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“Hungary and Slovakia have prevented the adoption of a new EU sanctions package, protesting against Brussels’ plans to ban the purchase of cheap Russian natural gas and crude oil, which would destroy Hungary’s energy security,” Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó announced on Monday in Brussels.
The Minister reported at a press conference following the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council that there was an increasingly warlike tone among his colleagues, with enormous pressure once again to increase arms deliveries and support to Ukraine, the adoption of new sanctions, and the urgent admission of the country to the EU.
“The Ukrainian Foreign Minister was personally present at the beginning of the meeting, where he demanded new sanctions, more weapons and money, and demanded Ukraine’s rapid accession to the EU. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister demanded that the European Union ban the purchase of oil from Russia, allocate more money to Ukraine, and send more long-range heavy weapons,” he said.
“However, we resisted all of this. First of all, as far as more money and more weapons are concerned, the European Union has provided 10 trillion forints (around 25.64 billion euros) in aid to Ukraine this year alone. And today it was said that this is not enough, that much more is needed (…) However, we have made it clear that we will not allow Hungarian money to be sent to Ukraine. We are not willing to contribute to any further financial support, any further arms deliveries, or any further military operations,” he stated.
They demanded that we create a sanctions package that is as strong and comprehensive as possible and that punishes the energy sector as severely as possible. However, together with Slovakia, we prevented the adoption of the sanctions package today,”
he added.
W/ Slovakia, we blocked the 18th sanctions package as Brussels is pushing the REPowerEU plan, which would ban member states from buying Russian gas & oil. This would undermine Hungary’s energy security & violate the Council decision granting us exemption from the Russian oil ban. pic.twitter.com/2NX17vJVl3
— Péter Szijjártó (@FM_Szijjarto) June 23, 2025
He explained that the reason for this is that at the same time, the EU wants to ban Member States from importing cheap Russian natural gas and crude oil, which would destroy Hungary’s energy security and double or triple utility costs.
In this regard, Péter Szijjártó condemned Brussels’ “hypocritical” policy, pointing out that while every single Hungarian law is scrutinized to ensure that it complies with EU law, they are now seriously violating the relevant rules, as in 2022, the EU unanimously granted Hungary and Slovakia full exemption from the ban on Russian oil purchases.
Brussels now wants to override this unanimous European Council ruling with a qualified majority decision and take away our right and opportunity to buy cheap Russian crude oil,”
he emphasized.
He also pointed out that there are no restrictions on Russian natural gas imports and that the European Commission wants to change this as well, bypassing the Member States and disregarding the principle of unanimity.
“This is unacceptable and a gross violation of European law. Therefore, today, together with Slovakia, we have decided not to support the decision on the 18th package of sanctions,” he said.
PREPARATION FOR THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL SUMMIT
Today, I held a scheduled conversation with the President of the European Council, António Costa, regarding the upcoming European Council summit on June 26.
At the beginning of our discussion, I informed the President of the European… pic.twitter.com/50VoGQAGx9
— Robert Fico (@RobertFicoSVK) June 5, 2025
The Minister emphasized that although the last decade has been marked by one crisis after another, the European energy market has never been in such an uncertain situation as it is now.
“It is no coincidence that the G7 countries were unable to agree on the oil price cap. And the fact that the G7 countries were unable to agree and that Iran has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which approximately 20-25% of the world’s crude oil and natural gas is transported, has created such an uncertain environment in the global energy market that if someone imposes an energy embargo now, it could cause enormous damage and a huge energy supply crisis,” he warned.
“That is why, if ever there was a time, it is now that the European Commission should suspend all related initiatives and refrain from referencing REPowerEU at all, not even say that it wants to impose an energy purchase ban, because if that happens, the European Union will find itself in a tragic situation in terms of energy supply,” he concluded.
Via MTI; Featured photo: Facebook/Péter Szijjártó