Hungary threatens to veto Bulgaria's accession to the Schengen zone over a tax on Russian gas transit, linking the veto to
protecting its energy security. The move comes amid discussions in the EU about Ukraine's accession negotiations.
Hungary will veto Bulgaria's accession to the passport-free
Schengen zone of Europe unless it abolishes the tax on the transit of Russian
gas transit. This was reported by Reuters, according to UNN.
Details
The veto threat came after all 27 members of the
of the European Union, except Hungary, to start accession talks with Ukraine,
despite its invasion by Russia.
It is noted that Hungary has made it clear to Bulgaria that
it will veto its accession if the tax on the main gas import route to
Hungary remains in force.
We have made it clear to the Bulgarians that if they continue to threaten
threaten the security of Hungary's energy supply, we will veto their
their accession to the Schengen area
He said that Hungary would lift its veto as soon as the transit tax
on transit will be canceled.
Context
While Western European countries have made great efforts
to wean themselves off Russian gas, Hungary has been receiving 4.5 billion
cubic meters of gas per year from Russia under an agreement signed in 2021, mainly
through Bulgaria and Serbia.