BRUSSELS, March 17. /TASS/. Ukraine’s decision to block access to the Druzhba oil pipeline will have implications for the entire European Union, Hungarian Minister for EU Affairs Janos Boka said.
"I think now that most member states do understand that the Ukrainian decision to cut off access to the Druzhba pipeline undermines energy security <…> and this will have implications for the European Union as a whole," he said in an interview with Politico.
The Ukrainian side refused to meet or to give the Hungarian delegation access to the pipeline, Boka said. "To what <…> extent the [European] Commission is actually committed to securing access to the Druzhba pipeline <…> remains to be seen," the minister added.
Oil has not been flowing through the Druzhba pipeline to Slovakia and Hungary since January 27. The Slovak government declared an oil crisis in the republic on February 18. It also halted electricity and diesel fuel supplies to Ukraine in response. Bratislava has not ruled out introducing new restrictive measures against Kiev unless its approach to the situation with the pipeline changes.