Did EU Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen suggest Ukraine stop the delivery of oil from Russia to Hungary by way of the Druzhba pipeline? No, that's not true: According to the European Commission, Von der Leyen never suggested anything to anyone regarding the Druzhba pipeline.
The claim first appeared in a Hungarian pro-government publication, Magyar Nemzet on May 17 and it appeared on TikTok in a video (archived here) which was published by lajos1901b on May 17. The caption reads:
Ursula Von der Leyen suggested that Ukrainians stop the Druzhba pipeline [to] Hungary. Apage Satanas! If you don't hate her already now you have a reason.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Wed May 24 15:30:45 2023 UTC)
According to an article in Magyar Nemzet, during negotiations over fees to bring Russian oil by way of the Druzhba pipeline across Ukraine to Hungary, the CEO of Ukrtransnafta, the company in charge of oil pipelines in Ukraine, sent a message to the CEO of Hungary's MOL oil company saying that EU Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen suggested the Ukrainian company stop oil delivery to Hungary through the Druzhba pipeline if Hungary doesn't change its approach on agricultural imports from Ukraine.
This story appeared in several other Hungarian language outlet too.
Both Von der Leyen's press office and the EU Commission Representation in Hungary, responded to inquiries from Hungary's Telex's news agency regarding the claim. According to a Commission spokesperson, "This is fake news. President Von der Leyen was never in contact with the CEO mentioned in the article and never suggested anything to anyone about the Druzhba pipeline." Von der Leyen's press office sent an almost identical answer: "President Von der Leyen never made any suggestions regarding the Druzhba pipeline and never contacted anyone for this matter."
