The EU is set to propose a Russian oil embargo, but Putin ally Hungary pushes back: ‘It makes no sense’
Europe is set to propose an embargo on Russian oil exports to the European Union, but Hungary is pushing back. The country’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said: “it makes no sense” to cut off the flow of Russian energy just as temperatures are dropping.
Orban has supported Russian President Vladimir Putin and has also criticized E.U.’s plans to cut his country off from Russian gas and oil supplies.
The E.U.’s 28 foreign ministers will meet Monday to discuss the possible sanctions, including the complete ban of oil imports from Russia, which would harm the nation’s economy, reports Agence France-Presse.
But Hungary is among several European nations that rely heavily on Russia for their energy needs and are not prepared for the winter months, which typically require more heating fuel.
“I do not think it makes sense for someone to close something that we need,” Orban said Sunday on public radio MR1.
Putin is also under pressure from some parts of his own country and Western governments over Russia’s role in the conflict in Ukraine, which he denies.
“We are not in favor of an oil embargo because it makes no sense,” Hungary’s ambassador to the United States, Réka Szemerkényi, told the Washington Examiner. “It is not going to have any effect on Russia.”
The Hungarians may be correct. The continent is more dependent on Russian energy than is commonly understood. An oil embargo could cause more harm than good for the E.U.
The International Energy Agency says that Russia supplies just 13 percent of Europe’s crude oil needs and 26 percent of its natural gas needs. Still, these figures are misleading because they include all imports from Russia, not just those coming via pipelines through Ukraine or across the Baltic Sea. Russia provides nearly half of Ukraine’s natural gas supply and almost all of Lithuania’s.
Source: https://twitter.com/MktsInsider
