The EU has provided technical support and financing for the repair of Druzhba to Kiev

The European Union (EU) has offered Ukraine technical support and financing for the restoration of the Druzhba pipeline. This was announced on March 17 by the President of the European Commission (EC) Ursula Von der Leyen on her Facebook page (formerly Twitter).

"We have held intensive negotiations with the EU member states and Ukraine at all levels in order to restore oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia. The European Union has offered Ukraine technical support and financing. Ukrainians welcomed and accepted this proposal," Von der Leyen wrote.

She added that the EC and the EU continue to search for alternative transit routes for non-Russian oil to Eastern and Central Europe.

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Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said on March 15 that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would never resume oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline. According to the prime minister, what is happening looks like they want to punish Slovakia for its peaceful position and lack of support for military loans to Ukraine. Fico also accused Kiev of trying to convince the EU that Friendship was inoperable.

Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Relations Peter Szijjarto said on March 16 that Ukraine had canceled at the last moment trilateral consultations with the energy ministers of Hungary and Slovakia on the operation of the Druzhba oil pipeline. According to the head of the Hungarian Foreign Ministry, there are only political reasons behind Kiev's refusal to reopen the pipeline, since from a technical point of view the pipeline is ready for operation.

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