The European Commission has “lost” its experts in Ukraine who were supposed to assess the condition of the Druzhba pipeline

The European Commission does not have information about the whereabouts of the European Union experts who were sent to Ukraine to assess the condition of the Druzhba oil pipeline.

This was stated by European Commission spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen.

According to her, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa sent a letter to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky informing him that a group of experts was ready to begin inspecting Druzhba, but they never received a response.

“I have no information about the route of this mission, and I cannot say where it is now,” Itkonen said.

On March 31, Euractiv reported that Kyiv’s decision not to allow the EU mission to inspect the Druzhba pipeline, through which Russian oil is supplied to Hungary and Slovakia, had caused disagreement and disappointment within the bloc.

According to the outlet, a special group coordinated by the European Commission has already been in Ukraine for several weeks waiting for access to the pipeline. However, Kyiv has not granted permission for the inspection.

Earlier, Hungary called on Zelensky and the European Commission to stop the “theater” surrounding the Druzhba pipeline.