BUDAPEST, January 31. /TASS/. Hungary will prevent further extension of EU sanctions against Russia if the European Commission fails to provide its energy security guarantees, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on the Kossuth radio station.
Earlier, Brussels assured Budapest of providing energy security guarantees, including the commitment to seek Ukraine’s resumption of transit of Russian gas, to prevent the disruption of transit of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline, and to secure the TurkStream gas pipeline from attacks. In response, Hungary approved the extension of EU sanctions against Moscow for another six months after January 31.
"If the European Commission fails to do as we agreed, sanctions will be lifted. And now we should speak about it resolutely, otherwise, no one will take us seriously, while the Hungarian people will be paying for sanctions-related losses," Orban said.
Kiev has not only suspended transit of Russian gas to Central European countries, but it also threatened to stop oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline, he noted. Moreover, the Ukrainian army has attacked with a drone a compressor station in the Krasnodar Region ensuring the supply of fuel to the TurkStream gas pipeline. "Such behavior of Ukrainians has made us say that this is unacceptable. We were forced to warn directly that sanctions would be lifted immediately unless changes on those issues occur," he said.
After that, Brussels promised to hold talks with Ukraine to fulfill Hungary’s requirements. Meanwhile, the premier noted that the European Union reinstates sanctions against Moscow every half a year, and that the issue is solved through a consensus. If Brussels fails to fulfill its commitments to Budapest, sanctions will be removed within six months, Orban stressed.