Viktor Orban says he is fighting for ‘common sense’ at EU summit
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Mr Orban, who has just been re-elected to serve a fourth presidential term, has stressed that blocking Russia’s oil and gas imports are a “red line” as it would “kill Hungary”. Part of his presidential campaign, which took him to victory on Sunday, was based on a pledge to maintain the security of gas supply for households. Orban has also kept up close business relations with Moscow for over a decade.
But Hungary is not the only one pushing back on EU calls to sanction Russia’s oil and gas.
Also not too keen on banning Russian imports are Austria, Italy and the Netherlands, who all fear that the move would cause chaos to their economies and energy security.
Germany, while changing its tone in recent weeks, has raised the alarm over slashing ties with Putin as 40 percent of its gas comes from Russia.
The bloc has been slower than its Western counterparts to target Russia’s energy sector with sanctions, likely due to its huge dependence on the country’s fossil fuels.
Up to a third of its gas is supplied by Russia, and it also handed Putin a staggering €48.5billion (£38billion) for crude oil imports in 2021, and €22.5billion (£19billion) of petroleum oils other than crude.
But after Russia was accused of committing war crimes in Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, the EU looks poised to come down much tougher on Russia’s energy sector.
It is still facing pushback from rebel members though.
On Tuesday, Germany, Austria and Hungary managed to exempt oil from a sanction package after arguing including it would ramp up inflation.
But European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has now promised that Brussels is “working on additional sanctions, including on oil imports”.
Hungary’s Secretary of State for international communication Zoltan Kovacs told Express.co.uk: “This is a red line for us.
“As a matter of fact, we see so many words and claims out there, which try to suggest that this is possible.
“But everybody knows that what they are suggesting by embargo and sanction policies regarding energy cannot be done.
“In the case of Hungary, that would mean an immediate collapse of the Hungarian economy, basically, and certainly would endanger the Hungarian population.”
The Hungarian President also said on Wednesday that he is willing to pay for Russia’s gas in rubles after Putin demanded that “unfriendly” countries purchase supplies in the Russian currency.
This is despite a number of EU members, including France and Germany, rejecting Putin’s demand and called out the Russian leader for using “blackmail”.
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Germany even said it was ready to ration gas instead of giving into the request.
But Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said gas contracts were between his country and Russia, warning the bloc to keep out of the deal that it has “no role” in.
It comes after Putin warned that he would cut off gas from countries that refused his request.
After setting an April 1 deadline, Putin said last week: “If such payments aren’t made, we will consider this a failure by the client to comply with its obligations.”
But he has allowed European buyers to continue purchasing gas in euros and dollars, downplaying the threat to cut off supplies.
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