Hungary’s reticence towards energy punishments against Russia aggravates its tensions with the Community Executive
The European Union outlined on Thursday the latest technical details of the fifth package of sanctions on Russia, the first to include energy punishments. Diplomatic sources assure that the Twenty-seven expect to approve the new round of sanctions in the coming days -in which the Russian coal veto appears-. All this despite the reluctance of Hungary, whose refusal complicates extending the embargo on Russian oil and gas in the future and further clouds its relationship with Brussels.
It is tradition for the President of the European Commission to congratulate the leaders of the EU Member States by letter on their electoral victory. In the case of Hungary and the recently re-elected Viktor Orbán, however, Ursula von der Leyen has skipped protocol and, instead, sent a very different letter to Budapest on Wednesday, notifying the Hungarian authorities of the implementation of the mechanism that allows the country’s access to European funds to be blocked.
The tug of war between the EU Executive and Hungary goes back a long way and the two parties have seen each other several times before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). But those tensions reached their peak on Wednesday, when Brussels announced that it was launching the mechanism to seize the 40,000 million in European funds that the country was going to receive, due to its doubts about compliance with the rule of law. A few hours later, Budapest rejected the fifth package of sanctions against Moscow, the first to contain energy punishments.
THE KEY:
-
40,000
million in community funds Budapest was to receive before the Brussels embargo. -
Debate in the European Parliament.
“What do we prefer, peace or air conditioning?” Launched the Italian Prime Minister
With images of the Bucha massacre still fresh in their minds, the Twenty-Seven hoped to discuss and adopt new punishments for Russia, including the Russian coal embargo. The negotiation was finally blocked by Hungary’s ‘no’, which ensures that it will refuse any energy punishment, although this Thursday the Twenty-seven made substantial progress in their debate on sanctions.
“It’s not our war”
Pressure increased after the European Parliament’s condemnation of the “atrocities” committed by the Russian Army and a vote calling for a “total and immediate” embargo on Russian imports of oil, coal, nuclear fuel and gas.
The European Parliament also held a heated debate on Europe’s energy dependency on Wednesday. “What do we prefer, peace or air conditioning?” Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi launched; one of the most memorable phrases of the debate.
Very dependent on Russian oil and gas, since the invasion of Ukraine began, Budapest has been characterized as a free verse within the EU. It is one of the few countries that has not sent weapons to Ukraine and will not do so in the future. “This is not our war and that is why we want to stay out of it,” his foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, said on Wednesday.
The Hungarian authorities are getting closer to Moscow, in a drift that the Member States and NATO see as very dangerous. Contradicting the Western front, Orbán has opened up to paying for Russian gas in rubles and has offered his country as a setting for peace negotiations.
The ultra-conservative leader’s challenge to the EU was already clear in his speech after winning the elections. “We have had a great victory. So big that it can be seen from the Moon, and of course, from Brussels”, he proclaimed, in a speech in which he singled out Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as his “enemy”.
The key
-
40,000
million in community funds Budapest was to receive before the Brussels embargo. -
debate in the European Parliament
“What do we prefer, peace or air conditioning?” Launched the Italian Prime Minister.
Hungary and Poland have long been the rogue states of the EU. The two countries challenged the mechanism for blocking funds, in force since January 1 of this year, and which has been endorsed by the CJEU since February. They considered that this tool was an excess on the part of the community institutions and, in retaliation, they paralyzed the adoption of the latest European budget and the plan to alleviate the consequences of the pandemic for weeks.
Europe has repeatedly drawn attention to these two countries. Warsaw refuses to paralyze a judicial reform that has been rejected by the CJEU and, in Hungary, Orbán has been criticized for his policies against the LGTBI community, decisions that distance him from the West and bring him closer to Moscow. Putin, by the way, did congratulate the new president on his victory.
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