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Hungary has rejected an offer from Croatia to use its pipeline system as an alternative to Russian oil imports, escalating a multipronged conflict with the EU.
The broadside from foreign minister Peter Szijjártó followed pressure from the European Commission for Hungary and Slovakia to wean themselves off Russian supplies more than two years after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
The two countries, along with the Czech Republic, have secured exemptions from an EU-wide ban on Russian crude imported via a pipeline that transits Ukraine because they have fewer alternative sources.
Szijjártó had asked for Brussels’ help after Ukraine banned shipments by Lukoil, a key supplier, through the Druzhba pipeline. But the commission said there was no evidence flows had dropped or that there was a shortage — as other suppliers can still use the pipeline, including Hungary’s MOL, which purchases the oil in Russia and is not subject to Ukraine’s sanctions.
On Wednesday Croatian President Andrej Plenkovic wrote to the EU commission to say its oil pipeline connecting Adriatic ports where shipborne oil can be fed into the European network is “underutilised”.
Its import infrastructure exceeds national needs, he wrote in the letter seen by the Financial Times.
“The affected central European landlocked countries have the opportunity to use this alternative supply route to reduce, or even completely eliminate, their dependence on Russian oil,” he wrote.
He added that the Croatian oil transit company operating the pipeline, Janaf, “is willing to negotiate long-term contracts involving larger volumes to ensure energy supply security and reduce dependence”.
Janaf’s Adria pipeline capacity is of 14.3mn tonnes of oil annually, from its terminal on the island of Krk.
Currently Croatia buys 2mn tonnes and Serbia 3.3mn. MOL has a contract for 2.2mn tonnes a year until the end of 2024, Plenkovic said.
Szijjártó attacked the Croatian leader’s letter on social media, claiming it was co-ordinated with the commission to pressure Hungary.
“Croatia is simply not a reliable transit country. Since the war broke out, they have raised transit fees to five times the market average. They have made it impossible for MOL to secure long-term transport capacities.
“Moreover, they have not invested in necessary capacity increases, and the maximum capacity data they provide has never been verified,” Szijjártó wrote on Facebook.
“The suspension of oil supplies from the east would make Hungary and Slovakia completely vulnerable to an unreliable transit country.”
The Czech Republic still buys some products from Slovakia’s refinery.
Trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis on Thursday encouraged Budapest and Bratislava to use the Adria pipeline. He asked for evidence that Ukraine’s sanctioning of Lukoil has diminished supplies and said there was no need to raise the issue with Kyiv yet.
Hungary’s Moscow-friendly premier, Viktor Orbán, is now fighting Brussels on several fronts, while holding the rotating presidency of the EU until December 31.
His shuttle diplomacy between Moscow, Beijing and US presidential candidate Donald Trump’s home in Florida, has irked many member states. Orbán is also blocking EU reimbursements for weapons other capitals have sent to Ukraine.
Separately, home affairs commissioner Ylva Johansson said Budapest could be breaking EU law by loosening visa requirements for Russian and Belarusian citizens.
The new National Card system would allow those getting Hungarian residency free movement in the 29-country Schengen area.
In a letter to the government, she said it could amount to “de facto circumvention of the restrictions the Union has imposed” on some Russians and Belarusians. She asked for replies to questions by August 19 so she could judge if the system was compatible with EU law.