Hungary and Slovakia will support a loan to Ukraine — Czech Foreign Minister

Petr Matinka stated that Hungary and Slovakia are ready to support an EU loan to Ukraine and a new package of sanctions against Russia. According to him, the countries’ position depends on the conditions regarding Russian oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline. The statement was made following a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

This was stated by Czech Foreign Minister Petr Matinka after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg, reports Dennik N.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine has completed repairs on the section of the Druzhba oil pipeline damaged by a Russian strike and that the facility can resume operations.

Russian oil has not been flowing through the Druzhba pipeline since late January, and Hungary has blocked an EU loan to Ukraine because of this. Budapest and Bratislava have also blocked the approval of a new package of sanctions against Russia.

“Both countries, which have expressed a somewhat reserved stance on these two issues, have made this contingent on the resumption of oil supplies to their countries. So if this is confirmed and supplies resume, this obstacle will disappear,” Minister Macinka told Czech journalists in Luxembourg.

The Czech Foreign Minister met with the Ukrainian ambassador and plans to speak with Sibiga.

The Czech Foreign Minister plansto meet with the Ukrainian ambassador in response to Okamura’s statements.

As a reminder, Czech Parliament Speaker Tomio Okamura, known for his pro-Russian views, called for an end to military aid to Ukraine and for the country to break free from Brussels’ influence.

Meanwhile, by order of the new head of the Czech Ministry of the Interior, Lubomír Metnar, the Ukrainian flag was removed from the ministry building.