The debate over Hungary’s exemption from US sanctions on Russian energy has intensified, with new contrasting statements emerging from Budapest and Washington.
Foreign Minister Szijjártó: Effectively indefinite
According to Hungarian officials, including Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, the country’s waiver from US sanctions on Russian oil and gas purchases is “effectively indefinite.” According to Telex, Szijjártó said on Wednesday, 13 November, that the exemption remains valid “as long as Orbán is Prime Minister and Donald Trump is President.”
He emphasised that the handshake between the two leaders last week was the key agreement, and formal documentation is “merely a bureaucratic, technical matter.” Szijjártó added that the arrangement would safeguard Hungary’s ability to maintain lower energy costs domestically.
State Secretary Rubio: One-year extension
However, statements from the United States suggest a much narrower scope. According to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, reported in the press release Secretary of State Marco Remarks to the Press on 12 November, the waiver for Hungary’s oil and gas pipelines is “a one-year extension.”
Rubio explained that the limited timeframe is intended to prevent sudden economic disruption for Hungary while maintaining US sanctions on Russian energy. CNN, BBC, and Reuters also reported that the White House confirmed the one-year waiver.
Rubio clarified in his remarks that while Hungary’s nuclear plant project requires a longer-term exemption due to the involvement of a Russian company, the pipeline-related waiver is only for one year. “It would be deeply traumatic to their economy to cut them off immediately,” he said, noting that Russia supplies almost all of Hungary’s pipeline oil and gas.
What’s the root of the discrepancy?
This discrepancy between Budapest and Washington has fuelled confusion. While Hungarian leaders insist on a de facto indefinite waiver, US officials and multiple international news outlets clearly describe the exemption as limited to one year. Orbán echoed Szijjártó’s comments in an interview with ATV, reiterating that the waiver applies “as long as he is Prime Minister and Trump is President.”
No such thing as exemption without a time limit
As we reported on Wednesday, according to Szent-Iványi István, a former European Parliament member and foreign policy expert, “legally and politically, there is no such thing as an ‘exemption without a time limit’,” and a handshake alone isn’t enough, as “exemptions only take effect if the order is formally amended”.
Whether the Hungarian government, and especially Viktor Orbán, is unaware of this or deliberately keeping Hungarians in the dark, the situation is deeply concerning.
A “handshake” agreement with Trump is worthless, as many of the world’s leaders have found out. Victor can spin it all he wants, and I love that “as long as Trump and I are in power” statement.
As the great peter sijjarto always say, “it is crystal clear” that the tactics here is, orban says is indefinite, and trump for a year, if orban loses, then the exception would be removed and then pedo-fidesz will blame P magyar, if by any chance orban wins next year, it will be sold as an amazing “diplomatic” outcome. Serve your self
I do not think you have to be a ‘Trump-Whisperer’ to realize that he will will only entertain extend infavourable circumstances to Hungary so long as Orbán Viktor is in charge.
It’s gone, if Orbán goes.
As to those who think President Trump will not be consistent, I would say that depends on the motive and circumstance at hand. In this case, he feels that Orbán Victor has extended to him loyalty, when no other European leader would – during his wilderness years of the Biden presidency. That is the most meaningful thing to President Trump.
Moreover, I suspect that Trump has it in his mind to surreptitiously attempt to construct a new European Union based around Orbán Victor’s Hungary.
It’s very clear that President Putin is also thinking along these lines.
Therefore, I think the favourable offers to Hungary are an odds on favourite to remain, and, as well, to keep coming, and, in light of the fact that President Trump’s main donors, like Miriam Adelson, view Orbán very favourably, because of his continued support for Netanyahu.
That these things are realities is no just circumstance. Orbán Viktor is an extremely shrewd man.
In fact, I think he is the shrewdest I’ve ever seen.
That said, after several years of brutal financial warfare from Bruxelles, he could still lose this coming election.
Maybe … maybe not.
If I were a bookmaker I would set Orbán Viktor’s chances at winning the 2026 election at 6-5 … maybe 7-5 odds – the current polls notwithstanding.
Our Politicians are very adept at clinging on to power.
It is going to be a long, hard slog to unseat them! People will need to get off their backsides if they want to see change.
Thank you for your comment, Dear Norbert.
Is it ‘our politicians’ who are so adept at clinging to power?; or is it the ever shadowy transnational structure behind them?
If you are interested in this subject, particularly as it pertains to Hungary, you probably would enjoy this little interview given by the very impressive Borvendég Zsuzsanna.
Her knowledge of corruption is so extensive I often find myself wondering if she has barns loaded with shoeboxes, each filled with secret receipts from every decade of the 20th century.
This charming, yet deceptively innocuous, lady is a serious threat to those who would like Hungarians to be clueless who is, and has been, doing what to them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mp8io22kpF8