Hungary and Slovakia just blocked the EU’s latest sanctions, here’s why
Hungary and Slovakia together have prevented the approval of the latest European Union sanctions package, the foreign minister said after a meeting of the EU foreign affairs council in Brussels on Monday, adding that they protested against plans to ban the purchase of cheap Russian gas and crude.
Péter Szijjártó told a press conference that the “pro-war atmosphere” among his counterparts was gaining ground and pressure to increase arms deliveries and financing for Ukraine had ratcheted up, alongside support for new sanctions and fast-tracking Ukraine into the EU.
“The Ukrainian foreign minister was personally present at the start of the meeting and demanded new sanctions, more weapons and money, and Ukraine’s accelerated accession. The Ukrainian foreign minister demanded that the EU should ban the purchase of crude from Russia, give more money to Ukraine and send more long-range heavy weaponry.
“We resisted all this. First, as far as more money and weapons are concerned, this year alone the EU has provided 10,000 billion forints worth of support to Ukraine. And they said today that this was not enough, much more is needed… But we made it clear that we will not allow Hungarians’ money to be sent to Ukraine. We aren’t willing to approve any further financial support or arms supplies…” he said.
“They demanded a stronger and more comprehensive sanctions package that will maximally punish the energy sector. But together with Slovakia, we prevented the approval of the sanctions package,” he added.
He said the EU wanted, at the same time, to ban the import of cheap Russian gas and crude, which would “destroy Hungary’s energy security” and increase utility prices 2-3-fold.
Szijjártó slammed “hypocritical” policies in Brussels, saying that while they were closely examining every single Hungarian law to check their compatibility with EU law, Brussels now severely violated the applicable laws, considering that in 2022 the EU gave Hungary and Slovakia an exemption to the ban on buying Russian crude in an unanimous vote.
“Brussels is now trying to override that unanimous European Council decision through a two-thirds vote and strip us of the right and opportunity to buy cheap Russian oil,” Szijjártó said.
Meanwhile, he noted that there were no restrictions concerning Russian gas imports, and the commission was trying to “bypass members” and change that, removing the principle of unanimous consent.
“This gross violation of European rules is unacceptable. So, in cooperation with Slovakia, we decided not to support the decision on the 18th sanctions package,” the minister said.
Szijjártó also made reference to the “uncertain state” of the European energy market. “No wonder the G7 could not strike an agreement concerning a cap on oil prices,” he said, adding that together with Iran threatening to shut down the Hormuz Strait, “it has created such an uncertain environment in the global energy market that if a prohibition on energy purchases is imposed, that will be hugely damaging and lead to a massive energy supply crisis,” he said.
He suggested that the EC should “throw out everything and not even utter the word REPowerEU… they should not even talk about an energy purchase prohibition because the EU will find itself in a tragic situation in terms of energy supplies,” he added.
Read more news about EU sanctions against Russia HERE.
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