WASHINGTON, October 23. /TASS/. The issue of continuing Russian energy supplies to Budapest is purely economic in nature and has nothing to do with politics, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.
"If we cut ourselves from the Russian sources [of hydrocarbons], then the remaining infrastructure is not enough, simply, physically, is not enough to supply our demand. <...> That’s the reason it has nothing to do with politics, with ideology, nothing. Because with politics and ideology, you cannot heat, you cannot cool, you cannot operate factories. So we think that politics and ideology should be left aside when it comes to energy supplies," the top diplomat told The Washington Times in an interview.
On Thursday, the EU announced that its 19th package of sanctions would include a complete ban on imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) under short-term contracts starting April 25, 2026, and under long-term contracts starting January 1, 2027. On October 20, the Hungarian foreign minister noted that EU countries with long-term oil and gas contracts with Russia may face heavy fines for breaking their agreements if they implement the European Commission's plan to stop receiving energy supplies from Russia.