Victor Orban has rejected a discussion of the EU’s proposed oil embargo on Russia at a summit of leaders next week, a new blow to the union’s efforts to win support for its landmark sanctions package.
The Hungarian prime minister sent a letter to European Council President Charles Michel, saying his country could not support the sanctions without further details on available EU funding to help Budapest give up Russian oil.
Orban’s refusal to discuss the package leaves Brussels’ plans to end the bloc’s dependence on Russian oil hanging by a thread.
“Discussing the package of sanctions at the level of leaders in the absence of consensus would be counterproductive,” Orban wrote in a letter seen by the Financial Times. “It will only underscore our internal divisions without offering a realistic chance of resolving differences. That is why I suggest that we do not consider this issue at the next European Council.
The European Commission has spent most of May seeking to involve member states in its sixth package of sanctions, which will include a gradual embargo on Russian oil. But it is struggling to persuade Hungary to support the package, as well as other landlocked countries that are heavily dependent on Russian oil, such as Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
Last week, the commission presented a 210 billion-euro plan called REPowerEU, which sets out proposals to dump Russian fossil fuels by 2027. Although there were encouraging signals in the plan, Orban said in a letter, he said he had failed to respond to Hungary’s worries, because there are no [funding] envelopes for the most concerned landlocked Member States’.
He added: “There is no indication of the terms and timing of funding for urgent investment needs related to the replacement of Russian oil.” In his letter, Orbán warned that the proposed sanctions would lead to “serious supply problems” in Hungary and undermine its vital energy security interests, leading to a “price shock” for the country’s households and economy.
Orbán said Hungary needs money to adapt its refineries to non-Russian oil and build new pipelines to supply alternative supplies to the country.
Brussels has set aside 2 billion euros for Central European countries to invest in new infrastructure, but has decided to direct them through the Mechanism for Reconstruction and Sustainability (RRF). Hungary has not yet reached a deal with the commission on its bid for its stake in the RRF due to EU fears of violating the rule of law.
Orbán’s letter raises “serious problems” because “countries without adopted recovery and sustainability plans cannot benefit” from most of the REPowerEU project in the short term. However, he also emphasized that he would continue the discussions “with a pragmatic and results-oriented approach”.
Orban’s spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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