Hungary and Slovakia confirmed on Tuesday that if the supply of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline is restored, both countries will support the EU loan for Ukraine and the twentieth package of sanctions against Russia. This was stated by the Czech minister Petr Macinka after the meeting of the Union’s foreign ministers in Luxembourg. The head of EU diplomacy, Kaja Kallasová, said after the meeting that Kyiv expects confirmation of the 90 billion euro (2.2 trillion CZK) loan within 24 hours.
On the same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi announced that the country had finished repairing the section of the Druzhba pipeline that was damaged by the Russian strike, and the facility could resume operations. Russian oil has not been flowing through Druzhba since the end of January, and because of this, Hungary has blocked an EU loan for Ukraine. Budapest and Bratislava also blocked the approval of the new sanctions package against Russia.
At the same time, Macinka said that France and Britain liked the Czech offer regarding the provision of a passive radar to ensure the security of the Strait of Hormuz. Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) announced last week that the Czech Republic will offer the DPET passive surveillance system, which could be an important contribution to the protection of shipping in the strait. But it will only happen when the situation in the area calms down.
“We feel that we should help, and we also see a kind of frustration in the United States of America when the American president says ‘Try to get involved in some way,'” said Macinka. “However, we are not a maritime power and we have no fleet, so we thought about how to contribute,” he added.
After the meeting, the minister also commented on Israel. According to him, the suspension of the association agreement between the EU and Israel is now unenforceable and a similar position is shared by several member states. As for sanctions against violent Jewish settlers, Macinka believes that they should not be one-sided and should also be sanctions against representatives of Hamas. The draft is now moving to the working level.
