Hungarian government will veto EU's anti-Russian sanctions if it has to give up Russian oil

Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade was in St Petersburg last week for the Gas Forum, and presumably gave an interview to RIA Novosti in the framework of the forum, which was published in four parts this morning.

One part, published only in Russian, was on the extra volume of Russian gas Hungary would buy. We summarise the three other parts published also in English below:

In one part, Szijjártó stated that anti-Russian sanctions are

generally reviewed every six months. And as long as the sanctions are in place, these exemptions (for pipeline oil shipments to Hungary and Slovakia - ed.) must remain in place, otherwise we will veto the sanctions.

He added that the leaders of other EU countries "understand this very well, so exceptions will be made". The report recalls that in the sixth EU anti-Russian sanctions package adopted in the summer of 2022, Hungary and Slovakia were granted an unlimited exemption from the embargo on Russian oil imports, although the parties agreed that the two countries should work to reduce their dependence on Russia as quickly as possible, preferably by 2027.

According to szijjártó's remarks, the Hungarian government will not agree to decouple completely from Russian oil, preferably by 2027, otherwise it will veto the entire anti-Russian sanctions package.

After the Lukoil affair in Ukraine this summer, Mol recently agreed to take ownership of Lukoil's oil at the Ukrainian border and transport it through Ukraine, and the Ukrainians promised to honour the supply contracts until the end of the Russian-Ukrainian oil transit contract at the end of 2029.

In the second part, Szijjártó criticised the possible withdrawal from Russian gas purchases. He pointed out that although the EU's REPowerEU plan for spring 2022 set 2027 as the target date for the EU to stop buying Russian gas, the Hungarian minister said it was wrong to insist on such politically driven dates.

This is a completely irrational approach. Because this approach has nothing to do with physics. It has nothing to do with economic competitiveness. This issue has nothing to do with the "green transition". It is a purely political commitment. And making political commitments in the energy sector simply makes no sense. This kind of dogmatic ideological approach does not work for us,

he said.

In the third part, he reiterated that from a Hungarian perspective, it would be better if Donald Trump won the US presidential election, but that the other outcome would be respected.

"We are very proud that President Trump usually refers to his friendly relationship with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. They have an excellent relationship on both a personal and professional basis. They already worked very well together during the Trump presidency. They have maintained those relations ever since." 

"If we look at the US elections from a Hungarian point of view, not from an American point of view (I can't do that, I'm not American, I'm Hungarian, so I can only look at the US elections from a Hungarian point of view), [...] it would be much better for us if the Americans elected President Trump," he added.

He stressed that Hungarians will always respect the results of elections in the United States, regardless of the outcome. "We will try to build the best possible relations, because this shows respect for the will of the American people," he concluded.

Cover photo: Péter Szijjártó's Facebook page