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Majority of Hungarians oppose Russian oil embargo, poll reveals

According to a survey conducted by Szazadveg Alapitvany, 89% of Hungarians think that sanctions against Russia "damage the European Union and the European economy"

VIENNA, May 13. /TASS/. The vast majority of Hungarian citizens do not support a ban on Russian energy supplies and believe that sanctions against Russia harm the European Union itself. This is according to a survey conducted by Szazadveg Alapitvany, the Budapest-based End of the Century Foundation.

"Three-quarters of those polled would not support blocking Russian oil and natural gas supplies to Hungary under pressure from the United States and Brussels, but 21% [of respondents] would not object to it," the authors of the study said on their website.

They also noted that, according to 89% of Hungarians, sanctions against Russia "damage the European Union and the European economy." Only 10% of respondents hold the opposite point of view.

The Foundation notes that that these views do not depend too much on the political preferences of Hungarian citizens: supporters of both the government and the opposition oppose the embargo on Russian oil and gas supplies. According to the study, the ban on the purchase of Russian energy resources is not supported by 92% of voters who voted in the recent parliamentary elections for the ruling party Fidesz (Hungarian Civic Alliance), 91% of supporters of the Motherland party and 51% of those who voted for the coalition from six opposition parties. More than 1,000 people took part in the survey, which was conducted in May.

Earlier this week, the Hungarian government, led by Viktor Orban, said that it would not be able to support a sixth oil embargo package against Russia as proposed by the European Commission. The Hungarian government repeatedly explained that the only large Danube oil refinery in the country is technologically geared in such a way that at least 65% of crude should come from Russia.

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