A top EU official said in an interview last week that the bloc is determined to get Hungary to sign on to an all out Russian oil ban, a debate that has shown fissures in the bloc.
“We are very much determined to work with Hungary and the rest of the EU member states to have European unity…We definitely prefer the 27 going forward together,” Maroš Sefčovič, The European Commission vice-president, told the Financial Times.
TRENDPOST: The Trends Journal has reported extensively on Hungary’s more lenient position towards Russia than much of the EU. (See “ORBAN WINS EASILY DESPITE ZELENSKY’S PUBLIC CONDEMNATION,” “RUSSIA ENDS GAS EXPORTS TO POLAND, BULGARIA. GERMANY AND ITALY ARE NEXT” and “EU MULLS BAN ON RUSSIAN OIL. WILL IT MATTER?”
Viktor Orban, Hungary’s prime minister, has so far opposed any bans on Russian fuels. The European Commission has proposed banning all imports of Russian oil by the end of this year, the Financial Times reported. To be enacted, the measure would require all 27 member countries to agree.
Orban has been hesitant to adopt the EU’s pressure campaign against Russia and has said in the past that cutting Russian oil from Hungary would be the equivalent of dropping a “nuclear bomb” on its economy.
Five packages of sanctions have already been passed against Russia but this one has dragged on due to Hungary’s concern as a landlocked country, the FT reported.
European countries and the U.S. believe that one of the quickest ways to devastate Russia is by banning its energy exports that make up the largest chunk of the Russian economy.
Hungary is dependent on Russia and Péter Szijjártó, its Foreign Minister, said Hungary could not get behind the proposal until the EU presents a viable “solution” for Budapest’s energy needs.
Szijjártó told El Pais, the Spanish newspaper, that not all European countries have the same need for Russian oil, Politico reported. He said the country’s infrastructure was specifically designed to receive Russian oil and gas.
He told the newspaper that the proposal creates an enormous problem for Hungary and in order to change its oil capacity it would need to invest between €500 and €550 million and that process would take, at the minimum, four years.
“To replace the oil pipeline from Russia, we would have to expand the capacity of the Adriatic Sea pipeline, which would mean €200 million, and we don’t know how much time that would take. The price of gas in Hungary would increase by 55 percent,” he said.
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