In addition to Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, Fidesz Communications Director Tamás Menczer also sent a message to the Ukrainian Foreign Minister after Szijjártó again threatened the Ukrainians due to the attack on the Barátság oil pipeline. Both Szijjártó and Menczer concluded their responses with a veiled threat, reminding the Ukrainian Foreign Minister that “the majority of Ukraine’s electricity supply comes from Hungary.”
In Menczer’s post, he talks, among other things, about Ukraine’s second attack on the oil pipeline supplying Hungary within a week. “We call on Ukraine to stop attacking the energy supply routes leading to Hungary! We know that they want to push us into war, to provoke us, but we have nothing to do with this war,” he said. He then concluded his video by saying that, following Szijjártó, he also said that“Without electricity from Hungary, Ukraine would collapse.”
Szijjártó announced on Monday morning that a Ukrainian attack had stopped oil shipments to Hungary. He called the attack outrageous, and then said that Hungarians wanted to stay out of the war. He concluded his post with this:
“Finally, a reminder for Ukrainian decision-makers: electricity from Hungary plays a key role in Ukraine’s energy supply….”
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiha responded to this in an X-post, in which among other things, he wrote to Szijjártó that
“Now you can send your complaints – and threats – to your friends in Moscow”
The Hungarian Foreign Minister responded to this in another Facebook post, writing that it is a fact that Russia has been transporting oil to Hungary via the Friendship Pipeline for decades, which is in Hungary's interest. It is also a fact that Ukraine is attacking this pipeline, and the Ukrainian attacks regularly cause oil shipments to stop, which is contrary to Hungary's interest.
“I am the Foreign Minister of Hungary, for me the interests of Hungary come first! And let's not forget: the majority of Ukraine's electricity supply comes from Hungary…..” – he wrote.
