Ukraine has turned on the Druzhba tap - oil is flowing to Hungary and Slovakia again, split down the middle. Zelensky declared repairs complete and told Brussels: unblock the 90-billion-euro loan, because Ukraine has delivered what you demanded.

The pipeline was damaged by Russian strikes on a Ukrainian pumping station in January. But instead of Russian bombs taking the blame, it was the Ukrainians who caught it. Hungary and Slovakia accused them of deliberately delaying repairs - a claim Kyiv rejected. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Putin's ally, went a step further and blocked the EU's two-year loan to Ukraine - despite prior approval from the European Council.

But Orban lost the elections on April 12. New Hungarian leader Peter Magyar brings a different approach. Will his arrival ease tensions and get not just oil flowing, but cooperation too?

For the Balkans, this story is more than distant geopolitics. When Druzhba stops, energy prices rise, transit countries lose revenue, and dependence on Russian oil becomes a political weapon. The lesson is always the same: whoever controls the pipes controls the conversation.