Hungary's new government risks provoking conflict with the EU over Russian energy resources - Bloomberg
Kyiv • UNN
Magyar's government will continue purchasing energy from the Russian Federation despite EU embargo plans. Budapest seeks diversification without a complete abandonment of Russian supplies.
The new government of Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar risks a confrontation with the European Union over a plan to continue purchasing Russian energy. This was reported by Bloomberg, according to UNN.
Details
As the publication notes, Budapest wants to diversify the country's energy imports after almost total dependence on Russian supplies under the previous government, but does not plan to abandon them entirely, the future Minister of Economy and Energy István Kapitány stated on Monday.
This statement became the first potential source of tension between Brussels and Magyar, who promised to return Hungary to the European political mainstream after 16 years of Viktor Orbán's controversial rule.
The EU plans to ban imports of Russian natural gas and oil. As of last year, the bloc received only 3% of its oil imports from Russia, and it is accounted for by two countries — Hungary and Slovakia.
"We do not want to completely abandon Russian energy; we want to stand on several pillars," said Kapitány, a former Shell executive, after his confirmation hearing. "We have two oil pipelines, and we must use them. We must always buy energy from the cheapest and most reliable sources."
Kapitány added that the new government does not plan to interfere in the activities of Mol Nyrt., Hungary's partially state-owned oil and gas company, which imports Russian oil and has clashed with Croatia over alternative pipeline capacity. He stated that he has a "very good" relationship with Mol's management.
Balancing Hungary's pro-European course with energy policy will be the task of Anita Orbán, who declared her intention to cooperate constructively with the EU as the future Minister of Foreign Affairs.
She told a parliamentary hearing that Hungary would use its EU veto power — which Viktor Orbán regularly exercised at summits — only as a last resort. The priority is to restore access to tens of billions of euros in EU funding that was frozen due to rule-of-law concerns.
"Too often, Hungary has been a problem in European decision-making," said Orbán, who is not related to the former prime minister. "We used the veto not as a last resort, but as political theater."