BUDAPEST, February 25. /TASS/. Hungary will strengthen protection of its critical energy facilities in response to Ukraine’s attempts to undermine its energy security, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said.

"We will not give in to blackmail. I have ordered increased protection of critical energy infrastructure. The Ukrainian government is putting pressure on the governments of Hungary and Slovakia through an oil blockade. The Ukrainians will not stop there; they are preparing further actions to disrupt the Hungarian energy system. Hungary will not succumb to blackmail," Orban wrote on Facebook, which is banned in Russia and owned by Meta, designated as extremist in the country.

"This increased protection means that military units and the necessary equipment to repel attacks will be deployed near key energy facilities. Police will step up patrols around certain power plants, distribution stations, and control centers. In Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg county in the northeast of the country, a ban on drone flights has been introduced," Orban explained in a video address broadcast on the M1 TV channel.

Earlier, Orban said he considered Ukraine’s decision to block Russian oil supplies to Hungary via the Druzhba pipeline to be political blackmail aimed at undermining the country’s energy security ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for April 12.