Orbán slams EU bid to override veto and ban Russian energy

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary would “not pay the price for Brussels’ nonsense” again, in a post on Facebook on Sunday, amid the new context of the war in the Middle East.

Orban said Hungary would officially remove a recommendation to phase out Russian energy imports from the agenda of a meeting of European Union energy ministers on Monday, in light of the situation in the Middle East.

He added that Hungary would also press for an immediate impact study of the war’s consequences in the Middle East and for Europe-wide measures to counter the risks.

Orban said economic and political risks arising from the military conflict in the Middle East were being priced in around the world, with crude prices up 10 percent and gas prices up 6 percent already.

He added that energy-poor and energy-intensive economies, such as the European Union and Hungary were seriously impacted by the situation.

“The short-sighted policy of Brussels with regard to sanctions on the Russian energy sector in recent years is now plain to see,” he said.

“If energy sources in the Middle east are put at risk, too, the European economy could be brought to its knees,” he added.

Orban said that Brussels’ effort to circumvent member states’ veto rights and ban Russian energy from the area of the EU showed disregard for the spirit and the letter of the Treaties and was a suppression of Hungary’s rights.