Hungary in bind over Russian oil as EU pushes embargo

Hungary in bind over Russian oil as EU pushes embargo

Hungary’s resistance to EU plans to hit Russia with an oil embargo might seem yet another aspect of the hostile relationship between Brussels and Viktor Orbán’s government, but officials and oil industry executives have stressed practical concerns behind Budapest’s stance.

Landlocked and with an oil pipeline infrastructure that points towards Moscow, Hungary says it would find an embargo on the import of Russian oil and fuel nearly impossible to handle.

Hungary’s government has said it cannot support the EU’s plan to ban Russian crude and fuel imports unless it exempts countries that rely exclusively on Russian pipelines to import their crude needs, putting the plan on hold as it requires unanimous backing from all 27 member states.

Under Orbán, disputes with the EU over corruption or democratic values have led to a stand-off that now threatens Budapest with financial penalties running to billions of euros, while Orbán has also been one of the EU leaders closest to Russian president Vladimir Putin. But Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s foreign minister, said his government’s reluctance to sanction Russian oil with an embargo was “not a matter of a lack of political will or timing”.

“It is the simple geographical, physical, infrastructural reality . . . Hungary’s energy supplies are secure at