Hungarian leader Orban urges European Union to lift Russian energy sanctions

Hungary’s Russia-friendly leader is urging the European Union to lift all sanctions on Russian fossil fuels to remedy spikes in energy prices caused by the war in the Middle East.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban, considered the Kremlin’s closest partner in the EU, said in a video posted to social media on Monday that he had sent a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after “oil prices began to grow explosively”.

The Iran war, now in its second week, has affected places that are critical to the production and movement of oil and gas from the Persian Gulf, leading to price surges on global markets.

In the video, Mr Orban said the 27-nation EU must “review and suspend all sanctions on Russian energy across Europe”.

Later on Monday, Mr Orban said Hungary’s government will introduce a price cap on petrol and diesel at fuelling stations beginning at midnight local time.

In a video posted on social media, Mr Orban said that “the international oil price explosion has reached Hungary as well”, and that the government would cap the price of petrol at 595 forints (£1.31) per litre and diesel at 615 forints (£1.36) per litre.

He added that the capped price would apply only to vehicles with Hungarian licence plates and registration documents, and that Hungary would free up its oil reserves to ensure adequate supply.

Mr Orban’s nationalist government has long opposed EU efforts to cut Russian energy imports, and along with neighbouring Slovakia has maintained and even increased supplies of Russian oil and gas since Moscow launched all-out war on Ukraine on February 24 2022.

Both countries have received a temporary exemption from an EU policy prohibiting imports of Russian oil, and have until recently taken Russian crude supplies through the Druzhba pipeline, which crosses Ukraine.

But oil deliveries through the Druzhba have been halted since January 27, leading to an escalating feud between Hungary and Ukraine.

The Ukrainian government says a Russian drone strike damaged the pipeline’s infrastructure, but Mr Orban has accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of deliberately holding up the oil supplies.

In response, Mr Orban vetoed a new round of EU sanctions against Russia, and is blocking a major 90-billion euro (£79.3 billion) EU loan for Ukraine until flows are resumed.

Mr Orban, lagging in most polls just a month before a critical election, has accused Mr Zelensky of seeking to cause an energy crisis in Hungary, in order to influence the outcome of the vote – part of his government’s sweeping anti-Ukraine media campaign leading up to the April 12 ballot.

Further inflaming tensions, Hungary on Thursday temporarily detained seven Ukrainian state bank employees and seized two Ukrainian armoured cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash and gold across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering.

Ukraine has insisted the cash shipment was part of regular services between state banks, and strongly denied the money laundering allegations.