Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban said his country will not give in to Ukrainian and European Union energy blackmail, and will take strong measures to assure its energy infrastructure.
“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.
“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 accused Ukraine of destroying the Druzhba pipeline, which supplies oil to Hungary, as a means of blackmail. He also made this statement despite European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen telling a news conference that it was urgent for Ukraine to repair the pipeline, during her Feb. 25 visit to Kiev.
