Brussels "welcomes" Orbán's idea of mission to check state of Druzhba oil pipeline - European Commission

The European Commission considers the desire of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to send a monitoring mission to Ukraine to check the condition of the Druzhba oil pipeline and the readiness to accept its conclusions a positive step.

The spokesperson for the European Commission, Anna-Kaisa Ikonen has stated this, according to the Europeanconservative portal.

Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, spokesperson for the European Commission. Photo: Commission.europa.eu.

The European Commission welcomes Orbán's desire to send a mission to inspect the Druzhba oil pipeline.

"We welcome Prime Minister Orbán's willingness to conduct such a mission and to accept its findings. This is a positive step," Itkonen said.

She added that "now we need to take the next steps to see how and in what form this fact-finding mission will take place."

"We are currently in contact with the Ukrainian authorities on this issue and continue to work with our member states to ensure the security of supply. At the same time, we expect all EU leaders to honor their commitments made at the European Council," the spokesperson added.

Itkonen reminded that "it was the Russian attack on the Druzhba pipeline pumping station on January 27 that caused the damage that led to the interruption of oil supplies to Hungary and Slovakia, and we strongly condemn these Russian attacks on Ukrainian and European energy security."