Pressure mounts on Ukraine to reopen Druzhba pipeline crucial for Europe's energy security

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban has called on Ukraine to respect Hungary’s energy interests and urged the reopening of the Druzhba oil pipeline, which has been partially blocked following a recent attack.

Orban said in an open letter to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy: “I urge you to immediately reopen the Friendship oil pipeline and refrain from any further attacks on Hungary’s energy security. More respect for Hungary!”

The Druzhba pipeline, also called the Friendship Pipeline, is one of the longest and largest oil pipeline networks in the world. Operating since 1964, it transports Russian crude oil to several Central and Eastern European countries, including Hungary and Slovakia.

Orban accused Kiev of trying to draw Hungary into the Ukraine-Russia conflict while receiving support from the European Union over the past four years.

“In recent days, you have blocked the Friendship oil pipeline, which is critical to Hungary’s energy supply. Your actions are against Hungary’s interests and endanger the secure and affordable energy supply of Hungarian families. I therefore call on you to change your anti-Hungarian policy!” Orban wrote in his letter.

Ukraine said the disruption of oil shipments through the pipeline was caused by a January 27 attack by Russia, which damaged the pipeline.

Kiev blames Russian attacks

Ukraine has not publicly disclosed details of the damage, nor a date for when it expects to resume deliveries via Druzhba. Kiev says repairs are ongoing, but shelling by Russia poses security risks to these efforts.

"When you renovate, Russia attacks again," Zelenskyy said during European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's visit to Kiev on Tuesday.

Hungarian and Slovak officials have accused Kiev of intentionally blocking the pipeline’s restart to gain political leverage against Russia, though Kiev has not confirmed this.

"You know how Russia uses these attacks on our critical civil infrastructure. And that's why people have been wounded. So for what? To renovate for what? To lose (more) people? I think this is a very big price. That's it."

‘Repairs ongoing’

In a note submitted by Ukraine to a technical meeting of EU governments on oil supplies on February 25, Ukraine said that it was “actively carrying out repair and restoration works,” according to Euronews.

"Security and stabilisation measures continue amid daily threats of new missile attacks," the document said. "The Ukrainian side is interested in restoring transit as soon as possible within the available legal framework."

Most EU countries halted their Russian oil imports following Moscow's full-scale military offensive in 2022, and by the start of this year Druzhba was carrying around 200,000 bpd to Hungary and Slovakia, according to Reuters calculations based on official data from the two countries.

The leaders of Hungary and Slovakia are outliers in the EU for maintaining close ties with Russia. They say buying oil elsewhere is more expensive and would endanger their energy security.