Opposition Tisza Party: Key to Hungary’s sovereignty is ending Russia energy dependence

The key to ensuring Hungary’s sovereignty is ending Russian energy dependence, the European parliamentary group of the opposition Tisza Party said in a statement on Thursday.

The EP voted on Thursday to strengthen implementation of sanctions against Russia, calling for a full ban on Russian energy imports, including products using Russian oil refined in third countries, the statement said.

Tisza Party MEPs. Photo: Facebook/Péter Magyar

Owing to the ill-considered policies of the Orban government, however, a full and immediate ban on Russian oil and gas imports would endanger Hungary’s energy supplies, so Tisza MEPs abstained from voting on certain points, it added.

The statement referred to “suspicious transactions revealed since the 2022 Russian invasion”.

“Russian strategic corruption is blooming in Hungary. The old political elite has been selling the country to Putin instead of pursuing national interests and energy independence,” it added.

The statement said that Hungarian companies paid some of the highest prices for gas and electricity in the European Union because the government had neglected to invest in the sector and had accepted the country’s dependence on Russian energy, it said.

Meanwhile, monies from the European recovery fund, including RepowerEU support which would help grow independence from Russian energy, had been withheld from Hungary due to high-level corruption, the statement added. Hungarians were losing 4 billion euros in preferential loans and 700 million euros of non-refundable support, it added.

If the Tisza Party entered government, it would bring EU monies to Hungary and invest in the diversification of Hungary’s energy supplies instead of wasteful luxury investments, the statement said. Until then, “because of the government’s criminal negligence”, we are obliged to explain to European partners and Hungarian voters that Russian energy dependence must be abandoned before we can safely give up Russian energy imports, the statement added.

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