Victor Orban
The Hungarian head of government fears for his country’s economy.
(Photo: IMAGO/ANP)
Budapest Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban criticized the European Commission’s proposal to sanction Russian oil imports in clear terms. “It’s the same as an atomic bomb being dropped on the Hungarian economy,” the right-wing politician said on state radio on Friday. Nor could his country replace Russian oil imports within the 20-month period that the proposal explicitly provides for Hungary.
“According to our own calculations, we need five years for the switch (to oil without Russian imports), a delay of one or a year and a half does nothing,” demanded Orban. The Commission’s proposal would not only mean that energy would become more expensive in Hungary, but that the country would no longer have any source of energy. “That’s why I say return it to sender!”
The EU Commission has now adapted its proposed short-term Russian oil embargo to accommodate critics of the project among the 27 member states. According to EU diplomats, she wants to extend the transition period from a Russian oil embargo to Hungary and Slovakia until the end of 2024.
For the Czech Republic, which also claims special regulation, the deadline should run until mid-2024, unless the Transalpine Pipeline is completed sooner, he says. Exceptions should apply only to pipeline oil, diplomats said. One of the diplomats said Orban’s remarks about a “nuclear bomb” should be seen as a tactical maneuver. Negotiations will continue in Brussels, and Hungary has not yet vetoed it.
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Representative Markus Ferber (CSU) criticized the bargain between member states and the Commission: “Sanctions are most effective when they surprise those affected. Negotiating a new sanctions package more than a week ago and publicly documenting every step of the negotiation is not a recipe for success.” If Europe really wants to hit Russia, it must act swiftly and unitedly.
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Orban has ruled Hungary since 2010. Last month, his Fidesz party won the general election, giving him his fourth consecutive prime minister. Under his rule, the country became very close to Russia. However, Budapest supported previous EU sanctions packages, issued in response to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
>> Read also here: Why Hungary and other Central Europeans fear an oil boycott
“But even so, we said that there is a red line that must not be crossed. That’s the energy sector,” Orban said earlier in the radio interview. Whether intentionally or not, the EU Commission with its oil embargo plan “attacked (in this situation) the created unity of Europe.”
On Wednesday, the EU Commission presented an outline of a sanctions package that provides for a broad suspension of Russian oil supplies to the EU until early next year. The proposal can only be decided unanimously.
With agency material.
More: Does an oil embargo against Russia make sense?