RT-Engels: 15-10-2024,
Budapest could block the measures if it loses its exemptions on Russian energy supplies, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has said
Hungary could block EU sanctions on Russia if the union’s policies jeopardize its own energy security, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has warned. Budapest will only permit the imposition of restrictions if they retain current exemptions on Russian energy supplies, he said.
The EU prohibited the transport of Russian crude oil by sea in December 2022 as part of its large-scale sanctions campaign against Moscow over the Ukraine conflict. However, landlocked Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic insisted on being granted waivers from the measure due to the lack of alternative supply sources.
“The sanctions are being reviewed in a cycle of six months usually, and as long as the sanctions are on, these exemptions must stay there, because otherwise we would veto the sanctions,” Szijjarto said in an interview with RIA Novosti, published on Tuesday. He emphasized that, for Hungary, the question of sourcing energy from Russia is not a political issue, but a matter of energy security.
Szijjarto recalled that, apart from targeting Russian oil with sanctions, Brussels has also set a goal of abandoning Russian gas by 2028 as part of its REPowerEU plan. He slammed the plan as an “absolutely irrational,” politically motivated decision.
“This approach has nothing to do with physics, with economic competitiveness… with the green transition.