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European Liberals Furious as Hungary Puts its Foot Down on Energy Security

Hungary Today 2025.01.27.
File photo of NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (L), PM Viktor Orbán, and PM Donald Tusk (R)

At Monday’s meeting of EU foreign ministers, the Hungarian vote will decide whether the European Commission will give a guarantee that it will act in the future in all cases where the energy security of EU member states is threatened from outside the EU, the Foreign Minister said on the EU’s website.

Szijjártó wrote on his Facebook page that after three years, it (should be) clear that the sanctions against Russia have failed miserably. These measures have caused enormous damage to Europe, including Hungary: the Hungarian economy has suffered damage worth 19 billion euros, or around 7,500 billion forints.

He added that, at the same time, Ukraine continues to take steps that threaten Hungarian (and Central European) energy security. “This cannot go on! Just as we must put an end to the fact that the European Commission does not represent the interests of EU member states, but those of the candidate country Ukraine,” Szijjártó said.

Earlier during the weekends the Foreign Minister explained that “The EU Foreign Affairs Council meets on Monday to decide whether to continue sanctions against Russia. The formula is clear: from now on, we cannot pay the price of other people’s wars and at the same time tolerate the risk to our energy security. Ukraine and/or the European Union must give guarantees that in the future they will not in any way obstruct the supply of natural gas and oil to Hungary… It is not us who need to be persuaded, but the Ukrainians who need to be given guarantees”, wrote Péter Szijjártó on Facebook.

On Saturday Donald Tusk, Poland’s left-wing Prime Minister, has vented his frustration on the social media platform X, echoing the anger of the Brussels bureaucracy at the Hungarian government’s threat to veto the renewal of EU sanctions against Russia until Ukraine reverses its decision to block the transit of Russian oil and gas to Europe. In Tusk’s view, “if PM Viktor Orbán really blocks European sanctions at a key moment for the war, it will be absolutely clear that in this big game for the security and future of Europe, he is playing in Putin’s team, not in ours. With all the consequences of this fact.”
In his reply, the Hungarian foreign minister called the Polish PM an “agent” of U.S. far-left oligarch, George Soros. As he put it, “this may be difficult for a Soros agent to understand, but when it comes to teams, we play for the Hungarian team. That is why we represent Hungarian interests: we are not willing to continue to pay the price of other people’s wars and we will not let anyone jeopardize the security of our energy supply. Because Hungary comes first for us”, wrote Péter Szijjártó.
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Featured Image: MTI/Prime Minister’s Press Office/Zoltán Fischer

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