Hungary will not support the European Commission’s sanctions against Russia as “problematic for the country” and “not offering a solution”, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in parliament on Monday.
“Hungarians must not be made to pay the price of the war,” he said. The Hungarian government makes a “clear distinction between attacker and victim”, it condemns Russia’s military aggression and supports Ukraine’s sovereignty, he said. Hungary launched “the greatest aid programme of all times” to help Ukraine and has so far accommodated nearly 700,000 refugees, he said.
The Hungarian government’s position has been clear since the outbreak of the war, Szijjártó said. It wants peace in Ukraine as soon as possible and will support all diplomatic efforts to that end, he added. He also noted that
the government had voted for the first five sanction packages, but added that compromising Hungary’s energy supplies would be a “red line”.
European leaders earlier agreed that they would only support measures that “take into consideration the different energy supply structure of each member”, Szijjártó said, and insisted that the current proposal would violate that consensus.
The current proposal “equals a nuclear bomb”,
he insisted, which would compromise the security of Hungary’s energy supplies and, if passed, it would make it impossible for Hungary to purchase the oil crucial for its economy. Passing the new sanctions would raise the price of petrol in Hungary to 700 forints per litre and that of diesel to 800 forints, Szijjártó said.
The Orbán government has not considered any other alternative, which is why it is now so vulnerable to Russian oil and gas imports. As we wrote before, Orbán cabinet continues to build the Paks nuclear plant with the Russians, details HERE.
Source: MTI
1 Comment
“The Orbán government has not considered any other alternative, which is why it is now so vulnerable to Russian oil and gas imports”. This is what you get when, for over a DECADE, you make the POLITICAL CHOICE to put all of your eggs in one basket (and then complain the EU owes you money for your flawed choices).
Mr. Szijjártó well and truly EARNED the Russian Order of Friendship he received in December of last year!
PS – HUF 700 – 800 is towards the lower end of what is the average price for a litre of petrol all over Europe. Fazit.
PPS – we did not accommodate “nearly 700,000 refugees”. Most of them just passed through! Oh. Wait. Another reason to demand EU money?