BUDAPEST, February 23. /TASS/. Hungary vetoed the European Union’s decision on the adoption of the 20th package of anti-Russian sanctions and the provision of a 90-billion-euro "military loan" to Ukraine due to the blocking of oil transit via the Druzhba pipeline, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said after a EU ministerial meeting in Brussels.
"I made it clear that we will not support a 90-billion-euro military loan to Ukraine because the Ukrainian are blackmailing us. They colluded with Brussels and pooled efforts with the Hungarian opposition to jeopardize the security of the Hungarian energy sector and the security of Hungary as a whole," he told Hungarian journalists, as cited by the M1 television channel.
According to the top Hungarian diplomat, he also blocked the 20th package of anti-Russian sanctions the EU leaders planned to adopt before February 24. "This is our current position. That is why there was neither the package of sanction nor the Ukrainian loan today. We made it absolutely clear that our position on this matter can be revised only after the Ukrainians resume oil supplies to Hungary," he stressed.
Earlier, Hungary warned that it would veto these EU decisions because of Ukraine blocking oil transit via the Druzhba pipeline. The country’ government stated that it would be blocking any EU decision in favor of Ukraine until oil pumping is resumed.