Hungarian premier accuses Poland of 'war psychosis' after Warsaw's comments on Russian pipeline

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban accused Poland's government of suffering from "war psychosis" after Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said he hoped Ukraine would destroy a key Russian oil pipeline to Hungary, TVP reported on Thursday.

Sikorski said he hoped Ukrainian forces would succeed in "knocking out" the Druzhba oil pipeline, which carries Russian crude to Hungary through Ukraine, adding that "sabotaging an invader is no crime."

Orban fired back, according to the report, calling the Polish foreign minister's remarks "complete madness." He wrote that "war psychosis has captured the mind of the Polish government."

"They want to throw away the thousand-year-old Hungarian-Polish friendship," he said, warning that destroying the Druzhba pipeline "would cause serious financial damage to Hungarian families."

The comments marked the latest escalation in a diplomatic dispute between the two EU member states. Tensions flared after a Polish court refused to extradite a Ukrainian national accused of involvement in the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline explosions.

Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto condemned Warsaw for "celebrating a terrorist," while Sikorski defended the court's ruling, saying it reflected "self-defence" against a foreign aggressor.

Moscow also weighed in, with Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova mocking Sikorski as "Osama bin Sikorski" over his support for targeting the Druzhba pipeline.