Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has accused Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk of defending terrorism after Tusk justified the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines. Tusk stated that the problem with Nord Stream 2 was not that it was blown up, but that it was built in the first place. The pipelines, which carried Russian natural gas to Germany, were damaged in 2022, soon after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict.
Szijjarto condemned Tusk’s comments, asking what else the Polish prime minister could find “forgivable or even praiseworthy.” He expressed shock at Tusk’s acceptance of the pipeline’s destruction, wondering what other infrastructure could be targeted and still be considered acceptable. Szijjarto emphasized that Europe should not be a place where prime ministers defend terrorists.
The Nord Stream sabotage has been attributed to a small group of Ukrainian nationals by Berlin’s prosecutors. However, Moscow has dismissed this version of events as “ridiculous” and suggested that the US might have been involved. The EU has set a goal to completely cut off Russian energy by 2027, but some member states, such as Slovakia and Hungary, still rely on Russian crude delivered through the Druzhba oil pipeline.
The Druzhba pipeline, one of the world’s longest energy networks, stretches approximately 4,000 kilometers and carries oil from Russia and Kazakhstan to several European countries. Since 2022, the pipeline’s flow has been reduced as the EU seeks to decrease its reliance on Russian energy. Germany and Poland have halted imports, while Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic remain dependent on the pipeline’s southern branch.
Recent attacks by Ukraine on the Druzhba network have disrupted supplies and exacerbated tensions between Kiev and Budapest. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has accused Ukraine of compromising his nation’s energy security due to his opposition to Kiev’s EU bid. The European Commission has ordered the restoration of flows through the pipeline. The dispute highlights the complexities of European energy politics and the ongoing challenges posed by the Ukraine conflict.