Hungarian foreign minister slammed Biden administration for sanctions endangering C Europe
The outgoing Biden administration’s latest package of sanctions poses serious challenges to central Europe, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Sunday, adding that Hungary’s government will be in close consultations with its regional partners in order to minimise the increase in fuel prices.
Biden administration endangering Central Europe
The sanctions put on a company critical to Serbia’s oil supply is set to lead to a fall in the amount of crude oil being imported by central Europe, Szijjártó said, according to a ministry statement, adding this would also increase the demand for refined petrol and diesel.
“If demand rises but refining capacity falls, it unfortunately means that we are facing a threat of serious price increases,” Szijjártó warned. “The sanctions recently imposed by the outgoing US administration could lead to a serious increase in fuel prices in central Europe.”
He said that over the coming days and weeks the Hungarian government will be in close consultations with its regional partners with a view to minimising the sanctions’ negative impact on fuel prices and protect the Hungarian and central European people.
“Because we know full well that rising fuel prices … don’t just make people’s lives harder and increase their expenses, but they also have a negative impact on economic output as a whole, which we want to avoid,” Szijjártó said.
Meanwhile, the minister welcomed that in a few days “the United States will have a president who views Hungary as a friend and not as an enemy”.
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