Weeks after a European Union mission was dispatched to Ukraine to assess a damaged pipeline at the heart of a diplomatic standoff, Brussels on Tuesday said it had no official information about the team’s whereabouts.
The mission — tasked with examining the condition of the Druzhba oil pipeline — has been cloaked in secrecy since it was announced last month, to the point that its status has become a source of quiet speculation in Brussels.
“It is not a mystical mission,” European Commission spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said at a news conference, when pressed on whether the experts sent to Ukraine were actually on the ground.
The initiative was unveiled in March as the EU sought to ease tensions between Kyiv and Budapest and unblock a €90 billion ($104 billion) financial package for Ukraine that has been held up by Hungary.
Ukraine maintains that the pipeline — which transports Russian oil to Hungary and Slovakia — was damaged by Russian strikes earlier this year and requires time for repairs. Hungary, however, has accused Kyiv of deliberately delaying its reopening.
At the center of the dispute is Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has maintained close ties with Moscow and used the issue to justify holding up EU funding.
While the European Commission has confirmed that a small team reached Kyiv roughly three weeks ago, officials have declined to provide further updates, citing security concerns.
“This is not a tourist trip,” Itkonen said, emphasizing the risks of operating in a war zone.
Behind the scenes, however, officials suggest the fact-finding mission has stalled, with Kyiv accused of slowing the process — though there appears to be little appetite within the EU to escalate the matter publicly.
Most EU countries have moved to reduce reliance on Russian oil since the war began, and frustration has grown toward Hungary and Slovakia for continuing imports.
Hungary does have alternative supply routes, including pipelines running through Croatia, EU officials note. Still, Orbán has turned the dispute into a domestic political issue, portraying both Ukraine and Brussels as adversaries ahead of a closely contested election.
Analysts say the European Commission’s silence may be strategic. According to Andreas Bock of the European Council on Foreign Relations, Brussels is wary of reinforcing Orbán’s narrative in the run-up to the vote.
“Publicly blaming Ukraine now could play directly into Orbán’s hands,” he suggested.
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