Hungary’s new energy plan quietly redefines Russia as a risk

Hungary’s updated draft of the National Energy and Climate Plan (NEKT) strikes a noticeably different tone from the government’s earlier narrative about Russian energy imports. 

While official communications in recent years described Russian gas and oil as a given – even as the “guarantee of cheap energy prices” – the new ministry document explicitly defines the country’s dependence as a risk that must be reduced.

The revised plan, first reported by Economx after appearing on the Ministry of Energy’s website, states that Hungary’s energy supply remains heavily dependent on Russian imports, particularly in the case of oil, natural gas, and nuclear fuel.

According to the document, the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine has highlighted that the risks stemming from this dependence must now be addressed “with a broader set of tools”, since previous supply models no longer provide sufficient security.

• Hungary is heavily dependent on Russian energy, but public ignorance about the issue is immense

“Not only Hungary’s, but the region’s interest as well”

The ministry’s text contains unusually direct language for an official Hungarian document. One key passage reads:

“Because of the country’s regional role in oil product distribution, managing the risks stemming from import dependence and diversifying oil supply – thereby reducing exposure to the dominant supplier, currently the Russian partner – is not only in Hungary’s interest, but in the region’s as well.”

Such a sentence could easily appear in an EU energy strategy paper – yet it comes from a Hungarian government document. In previous years, government communications emphasised the necessity of Russian imports. As recently as this autumn, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó warned that Hungary’s energy security would be “destroyed” without Russian oil and gas.

Earlier this week, Szijjártó announced that the government would use “all political and legal means” to block a new EU proposal aimed at banning Russian energy imports. He argued that the European Commission “has no idea what consequences such a move would have” for countries such as Hungary or Slovakia, and claimed the package would “kill energy security”.

The ministry’s plan, however, adopts a markedly different tone. It frames the reduction of dependence not as a political question, but as a strategic necessity.