The EU offered Hungary oil supplies through the Croatian pipeline instead of Friendship

The European Union (EU) intends to offer Hungary an alternative route for oil supplies through a pipeline running through Croatia, instead of using Druzhba. This was announced on April 14 by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz following a joint press conference with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky in Berlin.

"We will discuss the situation in Cyprus in two weeks at an informal EU summit. Hungary has already been offered to use the pipeline that goes through Croatia," he was quoted as saying by the Rhoepix television channel on its YouTube channel.

Merz also expressed the hope that the new political situation in Hungary would lead to a revision of Budapest's approaches, including in terms of cooperation with Russia, and would allow for more active participation in pan-European decisions. The Chancellor noted that the results of the elections in Hungary may affect the support of the Ukrainian side.

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Earlier that day, Zelensky said that the damaged Druzhba oil pipeline would be put into operation by the end of this month. He clarified that Druzhba will not fully work, "but enough to function."

Oleg Tyapkin, director of the third European Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, also noted on April 1 that Ukraine, with the connivance of the EU leadership, was trying to delay the resumption of the pipeline as long as possible. He stressed that the suspension of Druzhba supplies had already led to economic difficulties for Slovakia and Hungary.

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