Prime minister Viktor Orbán – Photo: PMO

Orbán: Hungary won’t join sanctions on Russian energy

Hungary continues to need Russian gas and oil and will not join the US which imposed sanctions on the imports of those products yesterday, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said in a video on Facebook on Wednesday.
9. March 2022 18:15

European diplomacy is “working at full capacity” this week, Orbán said, referring to a summit with the Visegrad Group prime ministers and their UK counterpart, Boris Johnson, on Tuesday, talks with three European heads of state and European Council head Charles Michel on Wednesday, and a meeting of the European Council on Thursday in Paris.

The efforts focus on creating peace, “however, we have to put at least as much energy into [reviewing] the economic consequences,” he said.

The sanctions imposed on Russia already have grave consequences, which can turn dire if they are expanded to include the imports of Russian oil and gas, Orbán said.

Hungary would be especially severely hit, as 85 percent of the gas and 64 percent of the oil consumed in the country comes from Russia. Some 85 percent of Hungarian households uses gas as a primary source of energy, he said.

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