The commission removed the embarrassing sentence that tells about Orbán’s blackmail

On Tuesday, the European Commission wanted to cover up the embarrassing connection with Hungary in its announcement about the Družba pipeline. Instead, the Commission wanted to signal that the agreement reached on repairing the pipeline in Ukraine was an expected technical decision, as a result of which Russian oil will soon be able to flow to Hungary and Slovakia.

In fact, the agreement reached on the repair of the pipeline is a political precondition for Ukraine to receive a 90 billion euro support package and for the EU’s 20th Russia sanctions package to possibly go ahead.

However, the Commission wanted to cover up the connection between these issues in its announcement, but it slipped into the version of the announcement about the Družba pipeline that was first sent to journalists. The first version read: “This (pipeline repair) is also a necessary step to continue discussions on Ukraine’s much-needed financial support and the 20th sanctions package before the European Council.”

However, the sentence was quickly removed, and the Commission’s message to journalists was to “use the latest version of the release”, which did not contain that sentence.

The last sentence wanted to be removed because it looks bad. It says directly that the Commission will have to give in to Hungary’s blackmail in order for Ukraine to get the help it needs.

The matter is embarrassing for the commission also because by repairing the pipeline, the commission promotes the flow of Russian oil to EU countries, as it finances Putin’s war chest.

The Commission promised Ukraine help and experts to repair the Družba pipeline. It means that European taxpayers will have to pay for the repair of a pipe that Russia broke more than 20 times.

Repairing and opening the pipeline to Russian oil is embarrassing for the Commission also because the Commission’s goal is for the EU to completely abandon the use of Russian oil by 2027.

However, the energy crisis caused by the Iran attacks and the opposition of the member states may water down this goal.

The version of the press release, which the commission hastily cleaned up, tells about unnecessary secrecy. It is not unclear to anyone in what kind of cross pressure decisions have to be made and their mutual weight weighed. This time, the balance was tipped in a position where Russian oil is allowed to flow to Hungary, so that Ukraine would get the help it desperately needs.

However, it is not certain yet, because there are elections in Hungary, and the prime minister of the country Viktor Orbán famously knows how to use his blackmail weapon.

It is not yet known whether the promise to repair the pipe is enough for Orbán, or whether he is already laughing when thinking about the next target that Hungary can use to blackmail the Commission and other EU countries.