The Hungarian government called for calm on Tuesday after two missiles hit Poland, killing two people, and significant disruption was experienced after Russia temporarily suspended the supply of oil through the Druzhba pipeline.
“The government urges calm, and not to draw any far-reaching conclusions from the initial news,” Defense Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky told M1 public service channel after the missile attack on a village in eastern Poland.
On Monday, Ukraine notified Russian oil monopoly Transneft that crude oil transport on the southern arm of the Druzhba pipeline had been suspended after a missile hit and disabled the transformer station powering a pumping station in Poland.
“The Ukrainian side has informed us that they have suspended oil pumping towards Fenyeslitke (in Hungary) due to a voltage drop,” RIA quoted Igor Dyomin, an aide to the Transneft president, as saying on Tuesday.
On Tuesday evening, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán convened the Defense Council in the wake of the events, and the minister arrived at the public media studio from the meeting.
“The country’s oil supply is secure not only for now, but also for the coming months,” assured Szalay-Bobrovniczky.
The minister confirmed he had spoken to the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and ministers from several neighboring countries, all urging calm to be maintained.
“We are in contact with everyone, with our European and NATO allies, and the Hungarian Defense Forces are ready to defend the country,” he added.
