The draft sanctions include a clause stating that the embargo only applies to Russian oil arriving by tanker, while oil arriving by pipeline is exempt from the import ban.Continue reading
The compromise by European leaders on the EU embargo on Russian oil “is acceptable but it will not promote a shift to green energy”, Péter Ungár, group leader of opposition LMP, told a press conference on Tuesday.
The agreement will ensure that none of the member states’ economies suffer serious damage, though “dependence on Russian fossil fuels will be replaced by … dependence on fossil fuels from the United States, Canada, and Arab states,” Ungár said.
Financing for adapting refineries to cater to oil from other countries should instead be spent on developing alternative energy sources, he argued.
Ungár said he supported “cutting funds which indirectly finance Russia’s military operations”, but the position of “leaders who struck energy deals with Russia after the annexation of Crimea in 2014” was “hypocritical” in this regard.
Ungár also slammed other Hungarian opposition politicians who, he insisted, “naively watched” developments in the EU. The decisions by EU member states were “not made based on moral considerations” but on national interests influenced by industrial lobbies, and they often used Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s veto policy as cover.
Featured image via Tibor Illyés/MTI
