Ukrainian attack on TurkStream threatens Hungary’s sovereignty – FM
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has condemned a recent drone attack on a compressor station of the TurkStream gas pipeline, labeling it an assault on his nation’s sovereignty due to the conduit’s critical role in its energy security.
Szijjarto’s comments came on Saturday after the Russian military reported thwarting a Ukrainian drone attack on the Russkaya compressor station on Friday night. This station is a critical facility for the TurkStream, also known as Turkish Stream, pipeline in Russia’s Krasnodar Region, serving as the point of exit on Russian soil for gas deliveries. The Defense Ministry stated that three drones were neutralized by air defense systems, preventing any damage to the station’s operations.
“The Turkish Stream pipeline is the guarantee of Hungary’s natural gas supply security; therefore, any potential disruption would seriously jeopardize our energy security,” Szijjarto wrote on Facebook. “Energy security is a matter of sovereignty, and therefore this type of attack should be considered an attack on sovereignty.”
The pipeline, which has been operational since January 2020, delivers Russian natural gas to Turkish customers and several European countries, including Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Greece.
The Hungarian minister also called on the European Commission to clarify its stance on the matter, reminding it of its recent assurance that Ukraine would not target EU-bound infrastructure.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov informed Szijjarto about the attempted attack during a phone conversation initiated by Hungary, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. He explained the incident and its implications for the pipeline’s security.
The incident is not the first involving the facility. Back in January, Ukrainian forces attempted to attack it with nine kamikaze drones, according to the Russian military. All of the UAVs were intercepted, but debris from the explosions caused minor damage to the station.
Commenting on the incident at the time, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Ukraine of engaging in acts of “energy terrorism.”
