Hungary could seek financial support from the European Union as it considers gradually reducing its dependence on Russian oil and gas, while analysts warn that replacing Russian energy could significantly increase costs for the Hungarian economy.
Speaking at a V4 summit press conference in Bratislava, Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar said he wanted to see concrete, data-based EU proposals to support Central European businesses, help member states phase out Russian oil and gas, switch to alternative energy sources and develop energy-storage infrastructure.
Péter Magyar calls for EU support over energy transition
The Hungarian government is reportedly considering making compensation payments for countries phasing out Russian energy part of the EU’s next seven-year budget. Péter Magyar said the current global energy situation remained extremely difficult, with fuel shortages being reported in several countries. He also argued that national budgets could not absorb the financial burden indefinitely and that maintaining fuel price caps could ultimately lead to shortages.
The prime minister criticised what he described as a lack of concrete proposals from EU leaders, saying businesses in Central Europe were struggling with rising costs. The Tisza Party’s political programme has previously included a goal of ending Hungary’s dependence on Russian energy by 2035.
Replacing Russian oil would come at a cost
Hungary currently receives most of its Russian crude through the Druzhba pipeline, supplying MOL’s refineries. Around 5–5.5 million tonnes reportedly arrived through the route in 2025, with a similar volume expected in 2026. Analysts say Russian Urals crude has recently been around USD 15–20 per barrel cheaper than Brent, giving Hungary a substantial purchasing advantage.
Alternative supplies could be brought through Croatia, but analysts at Kpler say this would reduce at least part of the current price advantage. More expensive crude could squeeze MOL’s refining margins and raise costs across Hungary’s energy system, reports VG.hu.
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Gas dependence presents an even bigger challenge
Hungary is also heavily dependent on Russian natural gas delivered through TurkStream under long-term agreements with Gazprom. A reported 7.8 billion cubic metres arrived through the route in 2025, while daily deliveries in 2026 have reached around 22 million cubic metres.
The precise pricing formula is not public, making the actual cost advantage difficult to calculate. However, previous reports have suggested that Russian gas could be significantly cheaper than prices on Europe’s TTF market.
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Russia may also have an incentive to keep supplying Hungary
Analysts disagree over how Moscow might respond to a Hungarian shift away from Russian energy. Some argue that Russia benefits financially from continuing supplies and has an interest in retaining one of its remaining European customers. Others believe changing political relations could lead Moscow to reconsider prices or volumes.
For Hungary, a rapid transition could therefore mean substantially higher energy costs. Despite the reported political shift, the government has not indicated that it plans to abandon existing Russian energy agreements, while cooperation on gas supplies and the Paks II nuclear project is expected to continue.
Read also: Hungary loses another EU Court case over frozen Russian assets and Ukraine aid
Now we have a government that finally gets to the point. Will the EU assist or not? Orban could have negotiated all of this to divert Hungary off of Russian energy but chose not to. So, if Orban was a Russian agent what would he do differently?
Yes, Dear Larry – this is a sensible move by Magyar. The only problem is that : if you get cheap oil from Russians, Russians do not require you to restructure your society, race, and traditions, whereas, Bruxelles uses every dollar for leverage against you. Therefore, even if they grant Magyar this, it will not be a good thing. But, yes, on the surface this is the right move.
A diktatórikus EU-s szalmi technika most 100 nap után gyönyörű Magyarországunkban is elkezdődik.
Since Mouton and Tamas are once again demonstrating their talents as storytellers, here are the facts:
The European Union has granted Hungary and Slovakia a deadline of 2027 to become independent of Russian oil. From that point on, a complete ban on imports into the EU will apply. However, the EU is not the only entity sanctioning the Russian energy sector; in October, US President Donald Trump also imposed sanctions on Russian energy supplies. Further drastic sanctions from the US loom on the horizon, and Hungary would be one of the few countries massively affected by them.
In August 2026, the US Senate voted for new sanctions against the Russian energy sector. In addition to direct sanctions against Russian politicians and companies, the measure aims to further curb Russian oil and gas exports, which are central to financing the war of aggression against Ukraine. Senators voted for the bill with a clear majority of 86 to 11. Under the legislation, the five largest buyers of Russian energy supplies are to be subjected to sanctions. Hungary is among them. Tariffs of up to 100 percent are to be introduced against these buyers.
In November 2025, Orbán was granted a one-year reprieve by the US. Despite Orbán’s claims to the contrary, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio publicly stated that the exemption applies for only one year.
Despite the geopolitical situation and sanctions imposed by the EU and the US, the Hungarian government refuses to break away from oil and gas imports from Russia. It argues that a complete halt in supplies would place an excessive burden on the state budget. This argument fails to take into account that the lower price of Russian oil compared to Brent crude is a result of the West’s sanctions policy; once sanctions are lifted, that price advantage would disappear, given that Russian oil is of lower quality. András György Deák, a Hungarian energy policy expert from Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, takes a different view: while a halt in supplies would undoubtedly cost the Hungarian state money, the cost would be significantly lower than Orbán has claimed. He considers a rise in gas and oil prices of around ten percent to be realistic.
In the case of gas, the price increase would be driven by additional transit and transport costs. Russian gas itself is no longer cheaper today than other gas available on the global market. However, delivery via existing pipelines is less expensive than shipping LNG from other sources, transloading it, and then transporting it to Hungary. For oil, the price of the raw material itself would also rise, given that Russian oil is currently available at a lower price, as previously described.
Nevertheless, the expert does not anticipate dramatic consequences: “Hungarian oil and gas imports have recently amounted to about 5 to 5.5 percent of GDP. A ten-percent rise in energy prices would therefore result in costs equivalent to 0.5 percent of GDP. That is a substantial sum, but it is not a price increase that would ruin the Hungarian economy. It is not a case of the world coming to an end,” says Deák.
These costs would primarily affect the state rather than individual citizens. This is because the Hungarian energy company MOL has previously had to pay a windfall tax due to the significant extra revenue generated by cheap Russian crude oil—generating huge income for the state treasury but raising the price of oil for customers. These tax payments would now cease. At gas stations, meanwhile, the low prices of Russian oil had not been passed on to consumers anyway.
AfD politician Kraft makes a similar argument regarding gas: “Cheap gas from Russia is a myth.” Rainer Kraft, an AfD Member of the Bundestag from Augsburg, contradicts his party’s official line in no uncertain terms. In a detailed post on X (formerly Twitter), Kraft explains that Germany consistently paid world market prices for Russian gas. In fact, Russian gas was often more expensive than liquefied natural gas (LNG) traded at the Dutch TTF gas hub.
Kraft points out that the Nord Stream project primarily lined the pockets of the Russian gas company Gazprom—and, by extension, Russia itself. “We could have bought the gas at the same price via the hub,” the AfD MP criticizes. The drastic rise in gas prices across Europe is frequently attributed to the shift toward imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the fact that these higher costs are passed on to consumers.
“Neither is true!” Kraft writes. Between 2009 and 2015, in particular, Europe actually paid more for Russian pipeline gas than for freely traded LNG at the Dutch TTF hub. “The conclusion is clear: Russia was the beneficiary of the Nord Stream project.”
The narrative about ‘cheap Russian energy’ is driven by an ideological desire to enrich Russia which is seen as the financial and moral benefactor of the European far right. They’d rather pay double market prices if they have to as long as the money lands in the Kremlin treasury.
I think it’s no exaggeration to state that the European far right as a whole is controlled by their paymasters in the Kremlin. It’s ironic that they campaign on a footing of nationalism, patriotism and supposed independence from the forces of globalism; in reality they’re wedded to Russia and have little wiggle room when Moscow signs the cheques via direct and indirect, opaque funding channels.
Without oil and gas sales they’d have zero revenue to direct into political projects outside their borders. They cannot produce even so much as a box of matches without foreign technology with the notable exceptions of nuclear power and military tech in which they’re self sufficient but not world leading.
Why was the 1956 memorial removed by Orban from Kossuth ter? If Orban was a Russian agent what would he do differently?
As far as appears on some newspapers Spain is still buying russian gas.
The EU should apply the same rules to every european country.
Magyar is just asking for something logical.
Algeria is Spain’s largest natural gas supplier followed by the US with Russia coming third (20% of imports). Hungary’s natural gas imports are between 74% and 90% from Russia. No comparison. Hungary needs to change.
Dear Larry,
Your data are correct and out of curiosity I had a look at 2025 data for European countries.
Surprising indeed.
Many countries need to change.