hungary-serbia-push-ahead-with-russian-oil-pipeline-plan

Hungary has announced fresh progress on a planned oil pipeline with Serbia that will transport Russian crude, with Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto pledging to press on despite Brussels’ push to end the EU’s dependence on Russian energy.

 

Szijjarto confirmed the pipeline plan on Monday after talks in Budapest with Russian Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin and Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy Dubravka Dedovic-Handanovic.

 

He said the three sides had reviewed investment and construction details and expect the 300-kilometre pipeline to be operational by 2027.

 

The project is designed to enable Serbia to receive Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline network and turn Hungary into a regional transit hub. The new infrastructure will have an annual capacity of 4 to 5 million tonnes.

 

“We’re moving forward with Serbian and Russian partners to build a new oil pipeline between Hungary and Serbia,” Szijjarto wrote on X after the meeting. Speaking to reporters, he accused Brussels of trying “to cut us off from Russian oil and gas, forcing Hungarian families to pay two to four times more.”

“We won’t allow that. We are building new sources, not shutting them down,” he added.

 

Szijjarto did not disclose Moscow’s exact role, but Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said at last month’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that Moscow was ready to help construct the pipeline and ensure supply.

 

Russian oil supplies to the EU have plunged since the Ukraine-related sanctions, including a 2023 embargo on seaborne crude and price caps on Russian oil. Brussels now aims to phase out Russian energy imports entirely by 2028 under its RePowerEU plan.

 

Hungary, which remains heavily reliant on Russian oil and gas, has resisted the EU’s strategy and recently blocked fresh sanctions on Moscow’s energy sector, lifting its veto last month only after securing national exemptions.

 

The EU’s latest 18th sanctions package includes a dynamic price cap on Russian oil and restrictions on oil products made from Russian crude in third countries.

 

Moscow has repeatedly denounced Western energy sanctions as unlawful and counterproductive, arguing they have triggered price spikes in Europe and forced the bloc to rely on costlier alternatives or indirect Russian supplies routed through third countries.