Hungarian Prime Minister, ultranationalist Viktor Orbán, remains on track to block EU sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. The Hungarian government plans to sue the European Union over a ban on purchases of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG), one of the measures approved in President Vladimir Putin’s latest round of sanctions against the country.
“We do not accept this clearly illegal solution, which is contrary to European values, chosen by the city of Brussels to end the government of a country that opposes this decision. We will condemn this measure at the Court of Justice of the European Union,” Prime Minister Orbán told state radio in a weekly interview collected by AFP.
Last week, US President Donald Trump cleared the way for Hungary to continue buying oil and gas from Russia despite an EU-approved veto. Mr. Orban is one of Mr. Trump’s main supporters in Europe.
Hungary’s legal initiative was announced by President Viktor Orbán even as Ukraine suffered a bombing raid by 430 drones and 18 missiles on Thursday night. At least four people were killed and “dozens” were injured, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. President Zelenskiy once again called on the world to stop these attacks with sanctions.Russia can still sell oil and manufacture weapons.
In October, the European Union approved its 19th sanctions package against Russia, which includes measures focused on blocking the transit of Russian fuel. The EU has banned purchases of Russian LNG from 2027 and vetoed deals with a range of third-party companies, including China and India, that Russia uses to circumvent fuel sales blockades.
Hungary and Slovakia voted against the sanctions package. Both countries are highly dependent on Russian fuel, and both governments have many ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
President Orbán said that a veto on Russian LNG purchases was “not a sanction, but a trade policy measure” and that Brussels would seek “other non-legal means” to dissuade the veto, but he did not specify what measures he was referring to.
Russia uses fuel exports as one of its main means of financing its ailing economy. According to Reuters, on Thursday night this week, the Ukrainian military successfully used drones to bomb Russia’s Novorossiysk port on the Black Sea, halting oil shipments from the enclave.
This is not the first time that Hungary has taken the EU to the European Court of Justice seeking action against Russia. The country has already sued the European Commission for using interest on Russian assets frozen under sanctions to finance Ukraine’s military in its war with Russia.
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