Hungary accused the EC and Croatia of trying to prevent oil supplies from Russia by sea.

The European Commission (EC), in collusion with Croatia, is trying to prevent oil supplies by sea from Russia to Hungary. This was announced on March 6 by Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations Peter Szijjarto.

"Brussels is shamefully conspiring with the Croats, trying to prevent the import of Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia by sea," RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.

Szijjarto stressed that the European Union (EU) has a "clear and reasonable position": Hungary and Slovakia can buy Russian oil by sea, while pipeline transportation is not possible.

Personal contract: Russia and Hungary agree on oil and gas prices

Moscow will not change the terms of supplies, Vladimir Putin promised at a meeting with Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto.

Zoltan Kiselli, a political analyst at the Hungarian Szazadveg foundation, said on February 26 that Croatia, by delaying the transit of Russian oil through the Adriatic pipeline, was forcing Hungary to look for alternative energy sources, but Budapest was not satisfied with the supplier change.

EC representative Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said on February 25 that at a meeting in Brussels, the EU group recommended that Hungary and Slovakia use the Croatian route to replace oil previously supplied via the Ukrainian Druzhba branch. She declined to specify how much the costs of Budapest and Bratislava would increase, but assured that Croatia's capacities would fully cover their needs.

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