BUDAPEST, January 30. /TASS/. The Hungarian government does not intend to comply with the European Union's ban on Russian gas supplies and is considering various ways to bypass it, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on the Kossuth radio station.
"Anyone who claims that [in Hungary] the current system of reducing utility bills can be maintained without Russian gas is lying. We do not want to comply with the decree issued in Brussels. We must circumvent it, we must avoid implementing it," he said.
Otherwise, gas will have to be purchased from other countries at much higher prices, and Hungarian families' utility bills will triple, the premier noted. Moreover, "the EU cannot impose such a ban since all members of the community have the right to pursue their own energy policies," he stressed.
The Hungarian government claimed earlier that it would challenge the decision made by the Council of the EU to ban Russian gas supplies in court. The lawsuit will be filed with the Court of Justice of the European Union as soon as the ruling is officially published and enters into force. Hungary intends to do so simultaneously with Slovakia.
On January 26, the Council of the EU finally approved a complete ban on Russian liquefied natural gas supplies to the EU from January 1, 2027, and pipeline gas from September 30, 2027. Large fines are provided for violating the ban. Similar plans are being developed in Brussels regarding Russian oil and nuclear fuel for nuclear power plants.