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Hungary, Slovakia to push EU to lift sanctions on Russian energy supplies — Hungarian PM

Viktor Orban said Budapest and Bratislava see it as necessary to urgently take steps to help EU countries avoid shortages of raw materials and fuel, as well as rising energy prices

© Kirill Kukhmar/TASS

BUDAPEST, April 4. /TASS/. Hungary and Slovakia have agreed to jointly call on the European Union leadership to lift restrictions on supplies of Russian oil and gas to Europe, which is facing an energy crisis amid the situation around Iran and the conflict in the Middle East, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said after a phone call with his Slovak counterpart Robert Fico.

He said Budapest and Bratislava see it as necessary to urgently take steps to help EU countries avoid shortages of raw materials and fuel, as well as rising energy prices. "We demand that Brussels immediately suspend the sanctions and restrictions imposed on Russian energy," Orban said in a video address broadcast by Hungarian television.

He also urged Brussels to force Vladimir Zelensky to "immediately reopen the Druzhba oil pipeline," which has been blocked by Ukraine since January 27.

"The European economy is facing a risk of energy shortages and, as a result, rising prices. The threat is imminent and it can only be averted if the European Union replenishes its oil and gas reserves from all possible sources, in as large quantities as possible and as soon as possible," the Hungarian prime minister emphasized, adding that "every day now counts.".

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Ukraine Slovakia Hungary

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