Hungary and Slovakia have initiated proceedings against Ukraine, because the Ukrainian decision to stop the transit of Russian Lukoil's crude oil seriously threatens the energy supply of the two countries.
Together, Hungary and Slovakia have initiated a consultation procedure with the European Union against Ukraine due to the country's unexpected and unfriendly move, with which they partially stopped the delivery of crude oil to our country, Péter Szijjártó said in Brussels on Monday.
According to the announcement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the head of the department reported at the press conference following the meeting of the European Union Foreign Affairs Council that
the Ukrainian decision to stop the transit of Russian Lukoil crude oil seriously threatens the energy supply of Hungary and Slovakia.
He pointed out that since the energy supply is not a political but an infrastructural issue, and since our country's crude oil needs cannot be solved without Russian resources due to the lack of alternative transport routes, the country, together with Slovakia and the Czech Republic, was exempted from the EU sanctions in terms of imports.
He reminded that Lukoil currently accounts for one third of Hungarian crude oil imports and about 45 percent of Slovak crude oil imports, so the Ukrainian ban basically threatens the energy security of the two countries.
"This is an unacceptable and incomprehensible step on the part of a country that wants to be a member of the European Union, and with a single decision puts the oil supply of two EU member states in fundamental danger," he said.
He went on to state that for now the situation has been stabilized with temporary solutions, but even in the medium term, the security of the Hungarian and Slovak crude oil supply cannot be ensured without Lukoil's deliveries.
"Therefore, we are constantly negotiating with the Slovak government in order to resolve the situation. Yesterday, I also spoke on the phone with the Ukrainian foreign minister, who said that of course there is no problem, they allow all kinds of shipments to pass through Ukraine, which is obviously not true," he stated.
"Lukoil's shipments have not been able to arrive in Hungary for several weeks now (.) With this new law, Ukraine prohibited the passage of crude oil shipments from Lukoil," he continued.
Péter Szijjártó explained that all of this violates the point of the EU-Ukraine association agreement, which states that Kyiv cannot interrupt the transit of energy carriers to members of the community.
He also mentioned that the agreement stipulates that in such a case the injured member state can immediately start a consultation procedure, in which the European Commission is obliged to represent it.
If it is not possible to reach an agreement, it is possible to establish an arbitration court and conduct a procedure within forty days, and if there is no solution, then the EU is entitled not to fulfill some of its contractual obligations, for example in the area of customs exemption.
"Today, together with Slovakia, we initiated a consultation with the European Commission prior to this arbitration procedure. It is an urgent matter, since the security of the energy supply is an acute issue, therefore the European Commission has three days to conduct this consultation with Ukraine, and if it is unsuccessful, then the dispute resolution process in the arbitration court will start," he informed.
The minister informed that the two countries are simultaneously working on different legal and technical solutions in order to ensure uninterrupted supply of crude oil even if no solution is found in the short term.
"We are in constant contact, and solutions are being outlined that can ensure our energy supply in the long term," he said.
Furthermore, he called the Ukrainian decision unfriendly and unexpected, especially in light of the fact that the neighboring country imported the most electricity from Hungary in June, 42 percent of its total imports.
In this regard, he emphasized that Ukraine's energy supply is being helped by Hungary, which is constantly on the prowl, in these difficult times, instead of "mouth caraters and speech champions".
In addition, the company that operates the Hungarian electricity network has also made very serious efforts so that Ukraine can connect to the European network, he added.
In addition, according to his words, at the beginning of July, in addition to Poland, Slovakia and Hungary also provided emergency aid to Ukraine in order to operate its energy system.
MTI
Cover photo: Péter Szijjártó
Source: Facebook/Péter Szijjártó
