The two sources explained that under the revised proposal, Hungary and Slovakia will be able to continue to buy Russian oil through pipelines until the end of 2024, while the Czech Republic can continue to buy it until June 2024, provided that it does not get oil through a pipeline from southern Europe before that date. , according to Reuters.
This came after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban expressed, on Friday, his country’s refusal to support the new European Union sanctions package against Russia in its current form, including the ban on Russian oil imports.
Orban said that the current proposal made by the European Commission to ban Russian oil exports amounts to throwing an “atomic bomb” on the Hungarian economy, adding that his country is ready to negotiate if it sees a new proposal that suits its interests.
Last Wednesday, the European Commission proposed the toughest sanctions package yet against Moscow over its war in Ukraine, but many countries expressed concern that the impact of cutting Russian oil imports would stand in the way of the agreement.
Some eastern European Union countries worry that stopping Russian oil imports will not give them enough time to adjust.
Orban told state radio that Budapest would need five years to make huge investments in oil refineries and pipelines to be able to change its current system, of which about 65 percent depends on Russian oil.
Orban added, “We know exactly what we need. First of all, we need 5 years for this whole process to be completed… The period between a year and a year and a half is not enough for anything,” according to Reuters.
He explained that Hungary would also need huge investments in refineries and the shipping system to allow the import of oil from countries other than Russia.
Orban wondered whether it would be wise to make investments of this size to achieve a result within 4 to 5 years, while the war in Ukraine is currently going on.
He indicated that his country would wait for a new proposal from the Commission.
He added, “I do not want a confrontation with the European Union, but I want to cooperate…but this is only possible if they take our interests into account.”
Orban also said his country would not support putting the pro-Kremlin head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, on the blacklist because this was an “issue of religious freedom.”
He reiterated Budapest’s position not to send any weapons to neighboring Ukraine because these shipments would become targets for Russian attacks in the area outside the border in western Ukraine where ethnic Hungarians live, he said.
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