Kagi News
EU runs into Hungary-Slovakia block on renewing Russia sanctions
The EU’s push to keep pressure on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine is again running into friction with Hungary and Slovakia. Both countries are resisting the rollover of individual EU sanctions ahead of a 15 March deadline. The standoff is playing out alongside a fresh Kyiv–Budapest dispute over the Druzhba oil pipeline, a key route for Russian crude to the two landlocked countries. Hungary says it sent a delegation — including representatives from Slovakia — to discuss reopening the Druzhba pipeline. Ukraine rejects that description, saying the group has no official status and calling the visit effectively unofficial. Hungary and Slovakia accuse Ukraine of deliberately dragging its feet, while Ukraine says Russian strikes in January damaged the infrastructure. At the same time, the European Parliament has urged the EU to press ahead with Ukraine’s accession process and floated ways to ease unanimity constraints at parts of the enlargement track. In the opposite direction, Hungary’s parliament has adopted a resolution rejecting Ukraine’s EU membership.
