Hungary Officially Obstruct the EU’s Sanctions on Russian Oil through its Demands for Exemptions
(Source: Maxim Shipenkov/AFP Via Getty Images)
As a response to Russia’s actions against Ukraine, the European Union (EU) has imposed international sanctions and has announced several proposals. Some of which were disconnecting Russia’s banks and related to other financial measures, severing state-owned broadcast media from the EU, impose individual sanctions on Russians, including an oil embargo on Russia which will be planned to be carried out at the end of this year.tIn the EU’s plan to carry out an oil embargo on Russia, the EU was faced with the biggest obstacle through Hungary’s statement that it officially refused to implement the sanctions.
Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, together with Hungary’s nationalist government stated that the sanctions were tantamount to drop an “nuclear bomb” and potentially crippling the country’s economy so Hungary persevered against his decision not to support any sanctions if targeting Russian energy exports (Nicolas & Zalan, 2022). This was clarified by the Hungarian Foreign Minister, Peter Szijjarto, who stated that, “Hungary rejects any sanctions on Russian oil and gas, and the imposition of any sanctions on nuclear-related activities is also a ‘red line’ for Hungary.” For this reason, the EU is struggling to convince Hungary not to hold up against the sanctions that have been planned.
What difficulties will Hungary face if the sanctions are imposed?
As the Hungarian Prime Minister has stated, taking part in the imposition of these sanctions would be tantamount to drop an atomic bomb on Hungary because the impact on the Hungarian economy would be very threatening. It is known from Russia Hungary receives 85% of its natural gas and 60% of its oil. Broadly speaking, it can be said that Hungary and its activities without oil and gas from Russia would not be possible to run. It is not an easy thing to deal with, so the reasons for Hungary’s refusal to be involved in these sanctions are reasonable. Even pursuing alternatives, such as converting Hungary’s oil refineries and pipelines so that they are no longer in line with Russia would be time-consuming and enormously expensive. So that it can be said, Hungary agrees to the sanctions of the oil embargo on Russia, which is tantamount to handing over the country’s economy to an “end”.
Is there a chance that Hungary could finally get on board?
Hungary’s dependence on Russian oil has been understood by The European Commission as it is pleased to help in this regard and would provide a specific solution to the problem. As the EU spokesperson, Eric Mamer mentioned “It is clear that Hungary, as a landlocked country, needs a suitable pipeline network to switch to other sources. But the issues to be resolved include oil storage and refining. This also requires infrastructure. In addition, the transformation of the energy sector has been discussed to make the separation from Russian oil a reality.”
Will this give the EU an opportunity for Hungary to change its mind and agree to the planned embargo? Or will Hungary remain hell-bent on its decision?
Author: Ave Shania
Editor: Maryam Cintanya Audi, Hafsyah Azzahra, Jennifer Clara Aprilia, Viranty Yulia Putri
References:
Al Jazeera. (2022, May 10). Why is Hungary not backing EU sanctions on Russian oil? Oil and Gas News | Al Jazeera. Retrieved May 14, 2022, from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/10/explainer-why-is-hungary-blocking-sanctions-on-russian-oil
Barigazzi, J., & Kijewski, L. (2022, May 8). EU’s Russian oil ban stalls as Hungary holds up sanctions. POLITICO. Retrieved May 14, 2022, from https://www.politico.eu/article/eus-russian-oil-ban-stalls-as-hungary-holds-up-sanctions/
BBC. (2022, May 4). What sanctions are being imposed on Russia over Ukraine invasion? BBC News. Retrieved May 14, 2022, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60125659
Murray, S. (2022, May 10). A week on, the EU appears no closer to a Russian oil embargo. euronews. Retrieved May 14, 2022, from https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2022/05/10/a-week-on-the-eu-appears-no-closer-to-a-russian-oil-embargo
Nicolas, E. S., & Zalan, E. (2022). EU lobbies Hungary to break oil sanctions deadlock. EUobserver. Retrieved May 14, 2022, from https://euobserver.com/eu-political/154907
Norman, L. (2022, May 10). Eu struggles to convince Hungary on russia oil sanctions. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved May 14, 2022, from https://www.wsj.com/articles/eus-von-der-leyen-heads-to-hungary-to-try-to-unblock-oil-embargo-against-russia-11652118279
