As Prime Minister Viktor Orbán meets US President Donald Trump in Washington on Friday to seek an exemption for Hungary from sanctions on Russian energy, a bipartisan group of American senators has called on Budapest to reduce its dependence on Moscow.
According to Bloomberg, ten senators from both the Democratic and Republican parties have signed an initiative urging Hungary and other importers of Russian energy to follow the European Union’s summer proposal, which would phase out all imports of Russian oil and gas by 2027.
“Hungary’s actions undermine collective security”
The letter states that Hungary has shown “no sign” of intending to reduce its reliance on Russian fossil fuels, 24.hu reports. The senators warn that while most of Europe has taken significant steps to move away from Russian energy since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Budapest is moving in the opposite direction.
Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen said:
“Europe has achieved extraordinary results in freeing itself from Russian energy, but Hungary’s actions continue to undermine our collective security and embolden the Kremlin.”
Her Republican colleague Thom Tillis spoke even more bluntly:
“Vladimir Putin is a war criminal who finances his murderous war through energy exports. We cannot allow energy dependence to become a weapon in the hands of a ruthless dictator.”
Orbán counting on Trump
Orbán hopes the meeting will result in Washington granting Hungary a special exemption from some of the sanctions on Russian energy, with Trump’s support. The Prime Minister has long argued that Hungary has no rapid alternative to Russian energy imports, and cutting them would endanger the functioning of the Hungarian economy.
However, the US Congress is currently debating a proposal that would impose sanctions on any country that continues to buy Russian energy in significant quantities. Both Democrats and Republicans support the legislation, but the decision ultimately lies with Donald Trump — without his approval, the sanctions will not take effect.
Hungary once again in a geopolitical crossfire
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Budapest has repeatedly clashed with its EU and NATO partners over its differing approach to Russia. The latest American appeal signals growing impatience within the Western alliance towards the Hungarian government’s energy policy.
Whether Orbán can secure concessions with Trump’s backing, or whether diplomatic pressure on Hungary will intensify, may become clearer after Friday’s meeting.
A historic agreement
As we reported earlier today, Hungary has concluded a historic agreement with the United States: for the first time, Hungary will purchase US nuclear fuel. The deal was announced in Washington by Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó. More details here:
sooo…let me get this straight. Hungary is bashed for using Russian oil…but the rest of Europe is using ever increasing amounts of Russian LNG.. dos anyone else see the irony of this?
My Dear Marika, please do not get a nose for irony, or, at least, not in the case of Western leadership, for if you do you will surely suffocate in it.
Sorry Marika, I don’t see the irony in it at all. While a slight increase in European use of Russian LNG has occurred, the driving force behind it is the drastic reduction in buying Russian pipeline gas. The EU goal is still to be off of Russian energy completely by 2027. The simple truth is that Russia finances their war on Ukraine with energy revenues. When Putin runs out of resources he’ll stop the war; not before.
I quite enjoy watching the walls close in around the fat man who has spent far too much time being Putin’s puppet. What has really disappointed me over the years is realizing how stupid Hungarians really are to be led back into being a client state of Russia. They somehow forgot 46 years of misery under Russian occupation and live worse every year as they blindly follow nationalist propaganda that is a massive con job used to keep a corrupt elite wealthy.
No mention of stopping the Killing on both sides. A working rekationsdhip with Russia a must for europe
No mention of stopping the Killing on both sides. A working relationship with Russia a must for europe. The US wont be stepping in to save it. Whats happening in europe is a much bigger problem than russia could ever be- im all for the US to step in to remove the cancer in the UK – it may be too late. Start by taking over their nukes same goes with france.