BUDAPEST, April 3. /TASS/. The European Commission (EC) should lift the ban on Russian oil and gas supplies to avoid an energy crisis, rather than giving questionable advice due to fuel shortages and rising gasoline prices, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said, commenting on an interview with European Commissioner for Energy Dan Jorgensen to the Financial Times.
Szijjarto said the European Commissioner appealed to EU citizens "with a dramatic appeal. This dramatic appeal could be called ridiculous or even pathetic if we didn't know how dire the situation is," Szijjarto said in a video message broadcast by Hungarian television channels.
"Dan Jorgensen asks Europeans not to go to work, but to work from home, drive less, carpool, reduce speed on motorways by 10 km/h. And what for?" the minister asked. In his opinion, the EC has finally woken up to the events around Iran and understood that they "have a dramatic impact on the global energy market. ‘Good morning!’" Szijjarto added.
He said that the Hungarian government has been talking about the threat of an unprecedented global energy crisis due to supply disruptions from the Persian Gulf for several weeks.
"And since Brussels has banned the supply of cheap Russian oil and gas to the European market, Europe may experience the biggest shortage of energy and rising prices," the foreign minister said.
"In this situation, the only acceptable step for the European Commission would be to return cheap Russian oil and natural gas to the European market. If this had happened, Europe would have been able to avoid sharp price increases and energy shortages, as well as weakening energy security. But, unfortunately, they do not change their position."
According to him, Brussels continues to approach energy issues from an ideological point of view and "does not want to bring Russian oil and gas back to the European market." According to Szijjarto, the current EU leaders are unable to protect Europeans from rising prices and energy shortages.