Hungary and Slovakia have complained to the European Commission that Ukrainian sanctions against Russian oil company Lukoil violate the Association Agreement with the European Union.
A spokesperson for the commission confirmed on Tuesday that a letter of complaint had been received from Hungary and Slovakia over a ban on the transit of oil from Russia via Ukraine.
Hungary and Slovakia have been accusing Ukraine for days of violating the association agreement with the EU by restricting oil transit.
This agreement stipulates that the transit of energy products may not be hindered.
Since 2022, the EU has had an import ban on oil from Russia.
However, there are exceptions for countries that are particularly dependent on pipeline oil from Russia due to their geographical location.
Until now, it has been transported from Russia to Hungary and Slovakia via the southern section of the Druzhba pipeline through Ukraine.
Slovak Foreign Minister Juraj Blanár said in a statement on Facebook that his country refuses to be “a political instrument.” Blanár criticized Ukraine’s transit ban.
Blanár said the EU sanctions “have a greater negative impact on Slovakia and the EU than on Russia itself” and stressed that Slovakia has an exemption for importing oil via pipelines from Russia.
Hungarian government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs, speaking on behalf of Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, said on X that Ukraine’s decision “fundamentally endangers the oil supplies of two EU member states with one single decision.”
The commission spokesman said the transit ban on Ukraine has no direct impact on the security of the EU’s oil supplies and that the EU executive stands ready to help find a solution to the problem.