Hungarian government: fight continues for cheap Russian oil

Hungarian families’ utility costs would grow threefold without cheap Russian oil, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said on Wednesday, adding that the “sovereign patriotic government” was the only one that could protect the country from that development, “the Tisza Party has no interest in doing so.“

Full ban on Russian oil on the horizon

Szijjártó told the Truth Hour podcast that the next months would bring further fight for cheap Russian crude; “not because it’s Russian but because it’s cheap.“

He said cheap Russian oil was one of the cornerstones of Hungary’s utility price cap scheme, and cutting the country off it would spell the scheme’s end. “Then, Hungarian families’ utility bills will increase threefold compared with what they are paying now,” he added.

He noted that the European Commission was slated to submit a proposal on the “full ban of Russian oil” on April 15, three days after the Hungarian general election.

In view of the Iranian war “blocking [the equivalent of] 20 percent of the world’s oil consumption” and the delivery of oil from Arab countries having become uncertain, that step would be a “sucker-punch” to the European economy, Szijjártó said. “Banning Russian oil from Europe means that Europe will lose out in this situation.”