© EPA/ ALI HAIDER The day before, the head of the Hungarian delegation, Gabor Cepek, announced that Slovakia had joined their mission.
Slovakia refrained from joining the Hungarian delegation’s journey to Ukraine for discussions concerning the Druzhba crude conduit. This was communicated by the Slovak Foreign Minister, Juraj Blanar, during a session in the European Affairs Committee of the Slovak Parliament, as reported by Dennik N on March 12.
“We received an invitation, but the situation on the Hungarian end evolved. They opted to depart considerably sooner, leaving the Slovak side without the opportunity to secure someone’s involvement in the talks. Based on our intelligence, they proceeded to Ukraine lacking an arranged assembly,” Blanar stated.
Blanar pointed out that Bratislava itself unsuccessfully requested Kyiv to grant an opportunity to visit the location where the Druzhba pipeline was reportedly impaired.
The previous day, the leader of the Hungarian delegation, Gabor Cepek, made the announcement that Slovakia had become part of the mission.
Ukrainian diplomacy labeled the Hungarian delegation as sightseers, affirming that no deliberations were scheduled, a statement to which Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó responded vehemently.
As a reminder, Brussels communicated that it possesses no details about the Hungarian officials who chose to journey to Kyiv to converse about the Druzhba oil artery. Concurrently, the European Commission proposed that Ukraine dispatch its own assignment to ascertain the realities regarding the pipeline. This was declared by Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, the European Commission’s spokesperson for energy.
“We are engaged in vigorous dialogues and contact with Ukraine regarding this subject, as has been the pattern for several weeks, as well as with the most affected Member States (Hungary and Slovakia).
According to her, the European Commission suggested the creation of an assignment that would clarify the facts surrounding the condition of the oil conduit.