An embargo on Russian gas would “ruin the whole European economy,” Viktor Orban says
Viktor Orban, the Hungarian Prime Minister has spoken out against an EU gas embargo that would have devastating consequences for Russia. Brussels is hoping to implement it eventually.
Orban spoke out about the conflict in Ukraine and Russia during a Kossuth Radio interview on Fridays. “the Hungarian government is almost the only one in the whole of Europe that isn’t talking about sanctions and war, but about the need for peace and investing in peace.”
“War isn’t in anyone’s interest,”He insisted and said that he was shocked to have heard so many. “voices for peace”Within the bloc.
Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine has prompted severe EU sanctions, which include a partial oil embargo. This has led to an increase in food and energy prices in Europe.
“If they move to introduce a gas embargo they will ruin the whole European economy,”Orban warned.
Hungary has the strongest ties with Moscow of all EU members and has adopted a more balanced view on Russia’s military operation.
Budapest, while condemning forceful actions and offering humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, has refused weapons. She also consistently criticizes the restriction on Russian oil, coal, and gas.
In May, the EU introduced a partial embargo on Russian oil. Hungary was not included in the waiver.
Budapest, which receives most of its oil from Russia through a pipeline, had compared a full ban to having an “an atomic bomb” dropped on its economy.
Last month, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reiterated that the EU’s goal in the long run is to “get rid of the overall dependency on Russian fossil fuels, all three of them [gas, oil, and coal], and never to go back again.”
The Hungarian PM said he would not rule out the possibility of von der Leyen’s plans eventually coming to fruition, but a lot of it will depend on Europe’s largest economy, Germany.
Berlin initially stated that an oil embargo would be out of the question, but changed its mind just a few weeks later, Orban said, adding that the Germans can reject a ban on Russian gas now, but there’s no way of knowing if they will stick to that position in the future.
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