Fico threatens to cut Ukraine’s emergency power over oil transit dispute

Politico Europe · Feb 21, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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Oil transit to Slovakia and Hungary has been disrupted since late January after a Russian strike hit the Druzhba pipeline, a key route carrying Russian crude to Central Europe. Ukraine’s pipeline operator said this week that the Jan. 27 attack damaged critical infrastructure and that repair works are ongoing. In a letter to the European Commission, Ukraine’s embassy to the EU proposed using the Odesa–Brody pipeline or maritime routes as temporary alternatives to supply Hungary and Slovakia while repairs are completed. Fico accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of treating Slovakia as a “hostile country,” saying Kyiv first halted gas flows, costing Slovakia €500 million annually, and has now stopped oil supplies, causing further losses. He also defended his decision to refuse Slovakia’s participation in the EU’s planned €90 billion military loan for Ukraine. On Friday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán similarly accused Ukraine of halting Russian energy transit for political reasons and threatened to block the EU loan until oil flows resume. Ukraine rejected the claims, arguing that Russian strikes damaged energy infrastructure.