EU offers to pay Ukraine to fix oil pipeline at the center of Ukraine-Hungary feud : NPR

FILE – A general view of a pumping station at the end of the Druzhba oil pipeline at the East German PCK refinery in Schwedt, Wednesday January 10, 2007.

Sven Kaestner/AP

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Sven Kaestner/AP

BRUSSELS — Senior European Union officials said Tuesday they have offered to pay Ukraine to repair a damaged pipeline meant to transport crude oil to Hungary, in a bid to persuade the government in Budapest to lift its veto on a massive aid package for the war-ravaged country.

Ukraine and Hungary have been locked in an escalating feud since Russian oil deliveries to Hungary and Slovakia were cut off in January due to damage to the Druzhba pipeline, which runs through Ukrainian territory. Ukrainian authorities blamed Russian drone attacks for the damage.

Hungarian nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of deliberately blocking oil supplies – claims Zelenskyy denies. In retaliation, Orbán vetoed a major European loan of 90 billion euros ($106 billion) intended to cover Ukraine’s military and economic needs for two years. Hungary is also blocking a new round of European sanctions against Russia.

EU officials said in a statement Tuesday that the bloc “offered Ukraine technical support and financing” to repair the pipeline.

“The Ukrainians have welcomed and accepted this offer. European experts are available immediately,” said European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Zelensky vehemently opposes Russian energy passing through Ukraine. Energy revenues have fueled President Vladimir Putin’s four-year war against his country, and Russian forces have relentlessly targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure throughout the conflict.

But he wrote Tuesday that Ukraine is “undertaking all possible efforts to repair the damage and restore operations.”

Costa and von der Leyen wrote to Zelenskyy on Monday, saying they hoped the EU’s offer of funding and technical assistance “could pave the way to overcome the current blockage and ensure a rapid repair of the pipeline.”

But Orbán said Tuesday he would continue to block the loan as long as oil shipments to Hungary remained halted.

“If there is no oil, there is no money,” Orbán said in a video posted on social media. “If President Zelensky wants to get his money from Brussels, he must open the Druzhba pipeline.”

Orbán added that he believed Ukraine was deliberately delaying oil flows in order to tip the balance in his political opponent’s favor ahead of next month’s Hungarian elections, but provided no evidence to support his claims.

European leaders lambasted Orbán for agreeing to the Ukraine loan at a summit in December and then reneging on the deal.

They accuse it of undermining the EU’s fundamental principle of “sincere cooperation” between the 27 member countries.

Ukraine desperately needs money and Zelenskyy said it was important that his country receives at least a first tranche of funding next month.

Orbán, trailing in opinion polls ahead of next month’s elections, has leaned heavily on an election campaign that presents Zelensky as an existential threat to Hungary.

He claimed that the Ukrainian leader, alongside von der Leyen, sought to drag Hungary into war, and claimed that his re-election was the only guarantee of Hungary’s peace and security.

The EU has essentially weaned itself off Russian oil and natural gas after Putin used the bloc’s dependence on it in 2022 as leverage to undermine European support for Ukraine. However, Hungary and Slovakia have been granted exemptions to continue using Russian oil because they are landlocked and do not have easy access to other suppliers.