EU Commission chief to meet with Hungarian premier

By Agnes Szucs

BRUSSELS (AA) - The EU Commission chief is set to meet with the Hungarian prime minister amid Budapest's outspoken opposition against imposing an oil embargo on Russia, an official statement said on Monday.

“President (Ursula) von der Leyen is traveling this (Monday) afternoon to Hungary to meet Prime Minister Viktor Orban,” the European Commission’s chief spokesperson Eric Mamer announced on Twitter.

“They will discuss issues related to European security of energy supply,” Mamer said.

The visit comes amid stalled negotiations among EU member states about the sixth sanctions package against Russia, which includes, among others, a ban on Russian oil imports.

Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, which are highly dependent on Russian energy imports, have previously raised concerns about the European Commission’s sanctions proposal and asked for an opt-out.

According to the latest reports, Bulgaria has also asked for exceptions.

Although the draft offered a phase-out period for Hungary until the end of 2024, the Hungarian government has been adamant and the most vocal among others on refusing the oil embargo.

Speaking to the Hungarian broadcaster Kossuth Radio on Friday, Orban compared the proposal on oil embargo to “a nuclear bomb” for the Hungarian economy and explained that the EU executive body does not offer any viable solution for the land-locked country to replace the Russian oil supply.

The EU has allocated €1.5 billion (over $1.58 billion) in military aid to Ukraine and mobilized more than €4 billion in macro-financial assistance, humanitarian aid, and support to EU countries hosting refugees from Ukraine since the war began on Feb. 24.

It has also adopted five sets of sanctions, targeting individuals, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, oligarchs, and military officers, as well as banning the export of luxury goods, and coal imports, and excluding Russian and Belarusian banks from using the SWIFT international payment system.

The sixth set of sanctions proposed by the European Commission last week is presently being negotiated by EU member states.

In addition to the ban on Russian oil imports, it has suggested the exclusion of Sberbank from SWIFT, as well as the imposition of asset freezes and travel bans on more individuals, including Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill.

In March, the European Commission revealed a plan to reduce dependency on Russian energy and to cut gas imports by two-thirds by the end of this year by accelerating the green transition into renewables and securing fossil fuel supply from new partners, including the US and the Middle East.