On Wednesday, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced that

Hungary would be strengthening the protection of its critical energy infrastructure

following the stoppage of crude oil flowing into the country via the Druzhba pipeline on 27 January.

He informed the public of the decision following a meeting of the Defence Council, which he had convened specifically because of the 'Ukrainian oil blockade'.

Orbán said that, in his opinion [which has not been substantiated by evidende - Ed.], it was clear that the shutdown was due to political rather than technical reasons. He claimed that the Ukrainian government was putting pressure on Hungary and Slovakia by blocking the supply of oil. He emphasised that Hungary had not received any oil via the Druzhba pipeline since 27 January, creating an unprecedented situation.

Viktor Orbán said that he had listened to reports from the national security services, on the basis of which he believed that

Ukraine might be preparing further actions to disrupt the operation of the Hungarian energy system. According to the Prime Minister, this threat justifies the extraordinary measures.

As part of this, he ordered the reinforcement of protection around critical energy infrastructure. According to his statement, this involves deploying soldiers near key energy facilities and providing the necessary equipment to repel attacks. Police forces will patrol the areas around designated power plants, distribution stations and control centres. He also ordered

a ban on drone flights in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County.

In early January, Péter Magyar, the head of the centre-right opposition Tisza Party and Orbán's main challenger on the 12 April election, claimed to have received specific information suggesting that Orbán's supporters might cause panic before the election by warning of suicide bombings or drone attacks. The prime minister mocked this in mid-January: "Flying drones, suicide attacks, constitutional coups, fake websites and trademarks. Political absurdity. That's all the Tisza Party has come up with in the past month."

The prime minister, who is blackmailing Ukraine by vetoing the European Union's €90 billion long-term financial assistance to Ukraine, what he had already agreed to, until oil flows are resumed on the Friendship pipeline, stressed that

Hungary cannot be blackmailed.

The threat voiced by Orbán comes on the back of a highly regarded poll showing on Wednesday that Tisza party has widened its lead over Orbán's Fidesz in February.

Tisza has extended its lead over Fidesz to 20 percentage points among decided voters, up from a 12-point lead in a January survey,

pollster Median said in an article published by news website hvg.hu. Tisza party, which was only launched in 2024, had the support of 55% of decided voters, up from 51% in January.Support for Fidesz dropped to 35% from 39% a month ago, according to the survey conducted between February 18 and 23.

Orbán's announcement was also prompted by energy and political tensions related to the war between Russia and Ukraine. Following the drone attack on the Druzhba oil pipeline at the end of January, sharp conflicts erupted between Hungary, Slovakia and Ukraine. The two EU member states claim that Ukraine is deliberately not restarting oil transit, whereas Kyiv claims that repairs to the pipeline have not been completed and that Russia is continuously attacking Ukrainian oil infrastructure.

Last week, due to the dispute, Budapest and Bratislava decided to halt their diesel exports to Ukraine. Meanwhile, the Hungarian government vetoed the European Council's €90 billion joint EU support loan, which would have financed Ukraine's operations in 2026 and 2027 but Hungary and Slovakia are staying away from this financing. This has also drawn the Orbán government into political conflict within the EU.

The Hungarian announcement about deploying soldiers and defence forces to protect critical energy infrastructure comes a day after President Vladimir Putin informed the Federal Security Service (FSB) that

there could be an attempt to blow up the Turkish Stream and Blue Stream gas pipelines running along the bottom of the Black Sea.

According to the Russian president, the purpose of the 'possible explosion' could be to disrupt the peace talks. However, he did not specify who would carry out the action, how it would be carried out, or when it would happen.

The Turkish Stream project involves the construction of a pipeline under the Black Sea, creating a direct connection between Russia and Türkiye. One branch will supply Türkiye with natural gas, while the other will supply countries in Southeast Europe, including Hungary.

During the meeting, the Russian head of state

ordered the Federal Security Service (FSB) and other security agencies to reinforce counterterrorism measures, with a particular focus on safeguarding energy and transport infrastructure, as well as public institutions.

He also ordered increased protection for defence ministry officials, military-industrial companies and state and local government officials, particularly in border regions.

Cover photo: MTI Photo/the Prime Minister's Communications Department/Zoltán Fischer