"There's a reality": Hungary's pro-Russian government is blackmailing Ukraine with EU membership over the halt of gas transit.

Hungary will block Ukraine's accession to the European Union due to Ukraine's cessation of Russian gas transit and its plans to do the same with Russian oil transit. Budapest, which maintains very friendly relations with the Russian regime, reacted nervously to this news.

Regarding the blackmail, wrote pro-Russian Foreign Minister of Hungary Péter Szijjártó on his Facebook. He stated that the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry "reacted aggressively" to Budapest's statement about the alleged increase in gas prices in Europe, as well as Hungary's discontent with the new bill from the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada concerning the cessation of oil transit from Russia.

"There is reality, there are rights, and there are obligations… The reality is that in the EU, member states collectively and unanimously make decisions regarding the admission of new members. In other words, each member state must vote 'in favor.' Rights: each country has the sovereign right to decide from where and through what means it purchases the energy resources it needs to function. No one from outside can influence this. No one has the right to impose more expensive, less secure energy sources on another country.", he stated.

Szijjártó asserted that a state entering into an association agreement with the EU or wishing to become an EU member must "contribute" to the Union's energy security. This contribution, according to the pro-Russian minister, involves providing routes for the aggressor country to export energy resources to Europe.

"Therefore, closing gas or oil routes is unacceptable and contradicts expectations related to integration into the EU.", the minister declared.

It is worth noting that starting from January 1, 2025, Ukraine has ceased the transit of Russian gas through its territory. This decision is made for national security reasons. The gas transportation system of Ukraine is operating in a mode without the transit of Russian gas. The system's infrastructure is prepared for such functioning.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico threatened Kyiv that due to the refusal to continue the transit of Russian gas to European countries, his party is ready to vote for reducing aid to Ukrainian refugees. In his opinion, such a move would be "adequate retaliatory measures." This is not the first such outburst from Fico, as he previously threatened to stop electricity supplies to Ukraine.