Even as the European Union rolls out tougher sanctions on Russia for its war against Ukraine and doubles down on plans to curb energy dependence, Hungary and Serbia are moving in the opposite direction: the two governments say they will build a new oil pipeline to bolster their own energy security. Euronews has noted that the project cuts across the EU’s broader policy line, underscoring how energetics is pulling some member states toward a more independent course.
Budapest and Belgrade are neither hiding their intentions nor showing much deference to the EU’s sanctions regime or its long-range decarbonization agenda. Both countries have a record of pursuing their own principles inside (and alongside) EU structures. And the evidence is piling up that a total “green transition” by 2050 — promoted in Brussels and Washington — is colliding with the harder reality that energy security will remain a paramount concern for decades to come.
The political winds have also shifted. After Donald Trump came to power in the United States, decarbonization lost much of its untouchable status in Western policy debates; hydrocarbons came back into open discussion as indispensable to national and economic resilience.
Western media reacted sharply when Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Péter Szijjártó, referred to Russians as “partners.”
“Together with our Serbian and Russian partners, we are advancing the construction of a new oil pipeline between Hungary and Serbia. While Brussels bans Russian energy, severs ties, and blocks routes, we need more sources and more delivery corridors. Hungary will not fall victim to these catastrophic decisions,” Szijjártó wrote on X. (As reported by News.Az.)
A day earlier, the foreign ministers of Hungary, Serbia, and Russia held a joint videoconference. According to Szijjártó, Hungarian energy group MOL has already submitted a techno-economic feasibility study, and preparatory territorial planning is well underway. Physical construction is expected to begin in late 2025 or early 2026, with full commercial operation targeted for 2028, Hungarian and Russian media reported. (As reported by News.Az.)
Earlier timelines had been more ambitious: first completion was floated for 2026, then pushed to 2027.
Reporting from Vesti.ru indicates that the new line would move Russian crude to Serbia via Hungary, drawing on supplies that reach Central Europe through the southern branch of the Druzhba (“Friendship”) pipeline. For Belgrade, the connection would diversify supply routes and cut reliance on transit through neighboring states.
What is Druzhba?
Druzhba is one of the world’s largest systems of trunk oil pipelines. Built in the 1960s by the Soviet enterprise Lengazspecstroy, it was engineered to move crude from the Volga-Urals oil and gas basin to the socialist economies of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance — including Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and the German Democratic Republic. The line runs from Samara to Bryansk and onward to Mazyr, where it splits: the northern branch crosses Belarus, Poland, Germany, Latvia, and Lithuania; the southern branch runs through Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Croatia.
In total, the Druzhba network extends roughly 8,900 km, of which about 3,900 km lie within Russia. The system includes 46 pumping stations (plus dozens of intermediate units) and storage capacity of roughly 1.5 million m³. Annual exports through Druzhba to “far abroad” destinations are on the order of 66.5 million tonnes, with the northern arm carrying about 49.8 million tonnes. Russia’s segment is operated by Transneft; Slovakia’s section is run by Transpetrol. Subsidiary Transneft-Druzhba also manages the Baltic Pipeline System-II, which ties the Druzhba network to Russia’s Baltic Sea ports.
Hungary and Serbia first floated the idea of a new connecting pipeline roughly a year ago. The initiative has now gained fresh momentum — just as the European Union approved its 18th sanctions package targeting Russia’s energy sector.
According to Forbes, the package includes measures zeroed in on Russian oil and gas. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas called it “one of the toughest sanctions packages against Russia to date.”
Key elements include: 1) A reduction in the price cap on Russian crude from $60 to $47.60 per barrel, paired with an automatic adjustment mechanism designed to keep Russian oil priced 15% below the global benchmark, reviewed every six months.
2) A ban on importing refined petroleum products made from Russian crude when shipped from third countries — with exceptions for Canada, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States — an attempt to close “backdoor” entry paths into the EU market.
3) A full ban on the Nord Stream pipelines and on the provision of materials or services connected to their construction or operation. Hungary and Slovakia reportedly tried to block the package, but it passed.
Still, analysts caution that enforcement will be difficult. Hungary already ranks among the top importers of Russian gas. UN Comtrade data show Italy and Greece rounding out the leading trio, followed by Bulgaria — a reminder that many of the largest buyers of Russian hydrocarbons remain EU member states.
That Hungary and Serbia — one an EU member, the other a candidate country closely aligned with Budapest — held a trilateral consultation with Russia and reaffirmed their pipeline plans immediately after the EU unveiled fresh anti-Russian sanctions sends a clear signal. The struggle over who ultimately shapes Europe’s energy map is far from settled. Brussels may set policy, but its increasingly headstrong members are testing how far that policy reaches. The final word is still up for grabs.
