"We made progress, but further work is needed," Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, stated in a Twitter post.Continue reading
Hungary’s government is calling for pipeline deliveries to be exempt from the European Union’s planned sanctions on Russian energy deliveries, as the European Commission has not made a proposal that would ameliorate the damaging effects of an embargo on Russian oil, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said on Wednesday.
Szijjártó said in a video posted on Facebook that the Brussels proposal, if accepted in its current form, would “completely demolish” Hungary’s currently stable energy security.
The measures would cause a 55-60 percent rise in fuel prices, resulting in petrol prices around 700 forints (EUR 1.8) and diesel around 800 forints per liter, he said.
“We have made it clear that we may vote for the proposal only if Brussels proposes a solution to the problem they have created,” Szijjártó said.
“We expect propositions regarding the upgrade of our refineries and a capacity upgrade of the pipeline through Croatia for hundreds of millions of dollars, as well regarding the future of the Hungarian economy, as the proposal in its current form is tantamount to a nuclear bomb,” he said.
The talks so far have made it clear that “Brussels has no solutions to those problems”, he said.
The Hungarian government will therefore maintain its stance that sanctions on Russian oil may only pertain to maritime routes, he said.
Featured photo via Péter Szijjártó’s Facebook page