Image Credit: ATTILA KISBENEDEK / Contributor / Getty 
On Wednesday Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced that he ordered military units and additional police to guard energy infrastructure sites in the east of his country, following a Ukrainian attack on Russian energy infrastructure that feeds oil to Hungary and Slovakia.
According to Orban, Kiev is attempting to “blackmail” Budapest into the now-four-year-long war:
We will not give in to blackmail
I have ordered increased security for critical energy infrastructure.
The Ukrainian government is exerting pressure on the Hungarian and Slovak governments through an oil blockade. They will not stop there, as they are preparing further actions to disrupt Hungary’s energy system.
Hungary cannot be blackmailed
On Monday Remix News reported on the massive Ukrainian strike that destroyed oil infrastructure feeding Hungary and Slovakia:
Ukrainian forces have launched a series of strikes against Belgorod using more than 200 drones. Several civilian casualties have been reported, although the targets appeared to be a natural gas plant and missile plants.
The damage to Russian energy infrastructure is yet another blow to Hungary and Slovakia, as they have been calling on Zelensky to restart the Druzhba pipeline, which transports Russian oil to both countries. For now, the two have halted diesel exports, while Budapest vowed to block the next sanctions package being voted on in Brussels today.
“Ukraine has blocked oil deliveries on the Druzhba pipeline. There is no technical obstacle; this is a political decision. They are pressuring us over Russian energy, money, and EU membership. I make it clear: Hungary will not give in to blackmail,” said Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán earlier today.
Immediately after the attack, Orban addressed the world, saying Hungary will not be blackmailed by the strike:
Kiev appears to not be done though, the embattled nation is allegedly planning on attacking neutral Hungary again.
“Orban’s political director, Balazs Orban, claimed that information available to the country’s authorities indicated that Kiev has been ‘preparing further actions aimed at disrupting the operation of Hungary’s energy system’,” RT said Wednesday. “The deployment comes after Budapest vetoed the latest EU package of sanctions against Russia, as well as a €90 billion ($106 billion) emergency loan for Ukraine. The loan was agreed upon late last year, after Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic opted out of contributing to it financially.”
Importantly, unlike Belarus, Hungary is not fighting NATO with Russia, but it is also not fighting Russia with NATO.
Ukraine may be seeking to escalate the war by drawing in nations that have remained neutral and have been seeking to end the four-year conflict.
On February 3 Orban said that his nation along with Slovakia and the Czech Republic (nations caught in the middle of the EU/Russia conflict) must work to prevent Europe from dragging themselves into war:
The @EPP wants to strip veto rights and turn the EU into a warmongering military alliance. This threatens all of Europe. Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic must continue working together to secure sovereignty and prevent Europe from being dragged into war. We cannot allow the EPP’s twisted plans to become Europe’s future.
