Hungary does not support EU’s oil and gas embargo of Russia

On May 1, Zoltan Kovacs, a spokesman for the Hungarian prime minister, said that Budapest’s position on imposing sanctions on Russian oil and gas “has not changed”.

“Hungary’s position regarding any oil and gas embargo against Russia remains unchanged. We do not support this”, Reuters quoted Mr. Zoltan Kovacs as saying.

Zoltan Kovacs denied the German TV channel ZDF reported on May 30 that Hungary and Austria had lifted the possibility of vetoes on the oil and gas ban from Russia.

Earlier, Hungarian Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Gergely Gulyas also said that Hungary would veto any European proposal to limit energy imports from Russia.

Hungary is one of many EU countries that are heavily dependent on energy supplies from Russia, it is not surprising that Budapest has repeatedly voiced strong objections to the extension of sanctions against Moscow.

The government of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has warned of severe damage to the Hungarian economy without access to Russian oil and natural gas.

“We should not impose sanctions that can harm ourselves just because of what we want to show.” said Gergely Gulyas, referring to soaring energy costs across Europe.

The EU is scheduled to hold an emergency meeting to agree on actions to deal with the risk of Russia cutting off gas. EU Energy Ministers will hold an emergency meeting on May 2, to agree on actions to respond to the risk of Russia cutting off gas supplies to European countries.

Russia is making a strong move when cutting off gas supplies to 2 European countries – Poland and Bulgaria. This move is expected to escalate tensions and raise concerns about the possibility of Russia extending the ban to other countries.

Internally, the EU is in danger of being divided because of disagreements related to the plan to punish Russia. These sanctions are putting many EU companies in a difficult position when they want to buy gas from Moscow but must ensure compliance with regulations set forth by the bloc.

In March 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered “unfriendly” countries to open accounts at Gazprombank and pay for Russian gas imports in euros or dollars to be transferred. converted into the domestic currency of the country.