Von der Leyen will hold talks with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at the Castle District premises of the Prime Minister's Office as part of a working dinner.Continue reading
Talks between Hungarian government officials and the president of the European Commission on the latest EU package of sanctions against Russia on Monday yielded some progress, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said, adding, however, that more discussions were needed in order for Hungary to change its stance.
“We cannot allow the Hungarian people to be made to pay the price of this war,” Szijjártó told MTI after a meeting between Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Budapest.
Monday’s meeting mainly focused on the EU’s latest package of sanctions against Russia and its effects on the Hungarian economy, the minister said.
Hungary’s energy supply “rests on stable foundations” at present, Szijjártó said, adding, at the same time, that the implementation of the new sanctions package would destroy the country’s energy security, as it would make it “impossible” for Hungary to get the crude necessary for the economy to function.
Hungarian government officials briefed the EC president in detail on the impacts the country is experiencing as well as the problems the new sanctions package would cause Hungary, and asked for the package to be reconsidered, he said.
Until the EC offers a solution to these problems, Hungary cannot support the sanctions package because in its current form it is equivalent to “dropping a nuclear bomb on the Hungarian economy”, Szijjártó said.
Featured photo via Péter Szijjártó’s Facebook page