Hungary Drops its Veto Against Sanctions, Gets Vague Guarantees in Return

Hungary achieved a “huge success” by receiving guarantees from the European Commission (EC) to protect its energy security, and the government therefore did not veto the extension of sanctions against Russia, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced in Brussels on Monday. Although the government is celebrating the deal as a win for Hungarian diplomacy, one thing is certain: the taps in Ukraine are still firmly shut and are unlikely to be opened while the Zelenskyy government is in power in Kyiv.

On Monday a decision had to be made on the extension of economic sanctions against Russia, which have caused Hungary 19 billion euros in damage over the past three years. The minister highlighted that Ukraine has taken a number of measures that have endangered the energy supply of our country and other Central European states, which is also a matter of national security and even sovereignty.

He then explained that the Hungarian government had therefore set clear conditions for the EC in recent days, requiring the community to protect Hungary’s energy security against steps that would endanger it, to protect the TurkStream natural gas pipeline, to protect Ukrainian oil transit, and to achieve the resumption of natural gas transport through Ukraine.

Hungary has today received from the EC the guarantees that are essential for the future of our energy security”

The EC has acknowledged that the integrity of the energy infrastructure supplying the European Union member states is a matter of security for the entire EU. This has never been the case before,” he stated.

“The EC has stated that it expects third countries, such as Ukraine, to respect this, and the European Union has made it clear that it is ready to take measures to protect oil pipelines, natural gas pipelines and electricity pipelines that lead from outside the European Union to the European Union,” he continued.

However, the Commission fell short of announcing any punitive measures should any of the parties fail to fulfill contractual obligations in terms of energy supplies, which leaves the door wide open for Kyiv to use oil and natural gas transit for achieving political objectives.

This will continue to leave Central-Eastern Europe’s energy security exposed to the objectives of the Ukrainian government.

Péter Szijjártó also mentioned that the EU votes on the extension of sanctions every six months and that the current approval of the Hungarian government in no way automatically means that it will act this way in the future. “And when Poland draws up the 16th sanctions package, we will still clearly and firmly represent the Hungarian position that the European Union cannot impose sanctions that endanger the Hungarian energy system,” he underlined.

The minister responsible for EU affairs also commented on the guarantees received  on his Facebook page. In the post, János Bóka emphasized that EU Member States remain fully committed to continuing to support Ukraine and, in this context, will help restore, interconnect and stabilize Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, in which Member States, including Hungary and Slovakia, have played a crucial role so far.

He added that the European Commission is ready to continue negotiations with Ukraine on the supply of gas to Europe via the Ukrainian gas pipeline network, in line with Ukraine’s international obligations. In this context, the European Commission is ready to involve Hungary (together with Slovakia) in the process. Furthermore, the European Commission is approaching Ukraine to seek assurances regarding the maintenance of oil supplies to the EU via its country.

We have made it clear that Ukraine cannot afford not to ensure gas and oil supplies,”

said the Minister responsible for European Union Affairs, a veiled reference at Ukraine’s dependence on Hungarian and Slovakian energy supplies, as well as humanitarian help.

The celebratory tone is in some contrast with statements made only days earlier in which Péter Szijjártó declared that the “European Commission does not represent the interests of EU member states, but those of the candidate country Ukraine”. Furthermore, he stated that “we cannot pay the price of other people’s wars and at the same time tolerate the risk to our energy security.” To date, Ukraine has not joined the Commission in guaranteeing the uninterrupted supply of remaining energy carriers, namely oil, originating from Russia.

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