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"Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban pledged on Wednesday to block all European Union decisions favourable to Ukraine until Kiev restores oil supplies, asserting that Hungary 'will not be threatened into submission” during a campaign rally in Sopron ahead of Parliamentary elections on the 12th April. Orban accused Ukraine of imposing an oil blockade aimed at causing economic chaos in Hungary just before the vote. “We will never agree to let anyone blackmail us and try to impose their will [...] That’s why we have decided to block every decision in the European Union that would be favourable to Ukraine until they return our oil and reopen the pipeline. No matter how much they threaten my family or me, we will not back down from this,” he said. “Remember that the Ukrainians put Hungary under an oil blockade. Why did they do this? They did this because they hoped that if the oil stopped, and we had no other option, then there would be economic chaos in Hungary. And just one month before the elections, fuel shortages and economic chaos meant the fall of the government,” he added. It comes after Serbia reported explosive devices near the pipeline on its side at the weekend, with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic saying that 'explosives of devastating power' had been found. Orban called the TurkStream a 'lifeline' for his country, and said he would deploy 'reinforced military monitoring and protection' on his side of the pipeline. Orban has blocked the latest 90 billion euro EU loan to Ukraine in the row over the Druzhba oil pipeline from Russia. While Hungary and Slovakia claim Kiev halted supplies for political reasons, while Ukraine alleged that it was damaged in 'Russian strikes'. The Hungarian government has also accused Ukraine of funding the opposition with millions in gold bars and cash seized from couriers in recent months, which Magyar described as a 'smear'. Zelensky was even accused of threatening Orban's life, saying he could give the PM's 'address' to his armed forces. During the rally, Orban criticised Western Europe, claiming Germany’s Christian Democrats and CSU had shifted leftward, making cooperation difficult. He welcomed a recent visit from US Vice President JD Vance, describing it as a sign of American support for Hungary on issues of migration, family protection, and traditional values. “Today, unfortunately, our strongest anchor to the Western world is not the German sister parties, but the Republicans of the United States, who cooperate with us. The visit of the American Vice President refutes all the foolish accusations trying to associate us with Russian friendship,” he continued. US Vice President JD Vance's two-day visit to Hungary marked the latest in a series of sharp criticisms of Brussels and the European Union. At the 2025 Munich Security Conference, he launched a blistering attack on what he called the "enemy within" Europe, accusing elites in Brussels of waging war on free speech and traditional values, while seeking to silence dissent on issues such as migration. Viktor Orban's government has accused Brussels and Ukraine of attempting to interfere in Sunday's vote to elect a more 'EU-and Kiev-friendly' administration, a claim which both the EU and Ukraine have denied."
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