Orbán says EU unity undermined by Russia oil embargo plan

Orbán says EU unity undermined by Russia oil embargo plan

Hungary has accused Brussels of threatening EU unity with its plans to impose an embargo on Russian oil imports, saying Budapest would not support proposals that would undermine its energy security.

Prime minister Viktor Orbán told European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in a letter seen by the Financial Times that Hungary was unable to support the EU’s latest sanctions plan “in its current form”.

“If the commission insists on the adoption of its proposal, it will have to bear full responsibility for a historical failure in the course of European integration,” Orbán said.

EU diplomats are wrangling over plans announced by Von der Leyen this week to phase out all imports of Russian crudeor refined oil, as part of a planned sixth package of sanctions against Moscow in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine.

Landlocked Hungary, which relies heavily on Russian oil, and Slovakia would benefit from a longer phase-out period under the EU proposals. But the package still went far beyond the EU consensus, Orban wrote to von der Leyen.

“[For] Hungary, the proposed sanctions require a serious upgrade in alternative supply infrastructure and a complete rearrangement of our refinery capacities,” Orbán wrote. “These efforts take time and necessitate investment that is redundant and