The European Union's efforts to impose an embargo on Russian oil imports have faced new obstacles. German officials have said they will not support the plan in its current form and have recommended removing the issue from the agenda of next week's EU leaders' summit, AP reports.
Hungary urges to remove issue of embargo on Russian oil imports from EU agenda
STEPANAKERT, MAY 26, ARTSAKHPRESS: Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Wednesday that Hungary would not vote on the oil embargo proposal as long as it makes Hungary's energy supply impossible.
He accused the EU executive of pushing through the plan without ensuring the energy security of Hungary, which gets 85% of its natural gas and more than 60% of its oil from Russia.
This problem was created by the European Commission, so the solution must be proposed by the European Commission. First, there must be a decision, and only then can we talk about sanctions, Szijjártó said.
The EU has previously offered exemptions to landlocked countries such as Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, which are particularly dependent on Russian oil, by granting them longer phase-out periods. Budapest remains steadfast in its opposition to sanctions on Russian energy.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said the embrace would be an atomic bomb for the Hungarian economy and destroy its stable energy supply.
On Monday, Orban wrote a letter to the President of the European Council, asking him to remove the proposed oil embargo from the agenda of the summit, which is due to start on May 30.
In a letter to Charles Michel, Orbán said that Hungary is not in a position to agree to the 6th package of sanctions until negotiations lead to the resolution of all outstanding issues and a solution is very unlikely to be reached before the summit next week.
