EU lawmakers are again taking a hard line against landlocked states such as Hungary, dismissing any suggestion that they might receive a necessary exemption from a proposed ban on Russian energy imports.
MEPs say there should be no exemptions or loopholes for countries like Hungary and Slovakia in the Commission’s plan to end the bloc’s dependency on Moscow by 2027. It has even been suggested that Brussels might push for the phase-out of Russian gas before the 2027 deadline.
One EU diplomatic source toldEuronews this week that Parliament “sees loopholes everywhere and wants to close them,” adding that its approach “lacks rigorous technical knowledge” on the matter.
The Parliament’s hard-line attitude is echoed by Lithuania, whose energy minister Žygimantas Vaičiūnas also toldPolitico towards the end of last month: “Now, it is time to demonstrate … political will on the EU level.”
This would, of course, frustrate Donald Trump’s deal with Viktor Orbán that fully exempts Hungary from U.S. sanctions on Russian oil and gas for an “indefinite period.”
Indeed, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó stressed the importance of an exemption late last month, saying that “our safe energy supply is being killed.”
They call it diversification, but in reality, it cuts one of our vital oil routes. The EU Commission completely ignores that this regulation destroys the energy security of EU Member States. Energy should not be about politics!
With RePowerEU, our safe energy supply is being killed. They call it diversification, but in reality, it cuts one of our vital oil routes. @EU_Commission completely ignores that this regulation destroys the energy security of EU Member States. Energy should not be about politics! pic.twitter.com/dI7JC1rKXZ
And a recent test by the Hungarian energy giant MOL found that the alternative Adria pipeline, which brings in oil from Croatia, can only sustain the necessary higher flow rates for one to two hours.
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
