The foreign minister said Hungary will withhold its vote for the latest EU package of sanctions unless a solution is found to Hungary's concerns over its energy security.
“Today I spoke by phone again with my friend Shahid Abdullah, president of the United Nations General Assembly, whom I often consult with regard to the war in Ukraine,” Péter Szijjártó wrote on Facebook. He asked him to continue applying UN pressure to secure a ceasefire and build peace. “Securing peace as soon as possible would be in the best interest of us Hungarians,” he added. Regarding the latest proposed EU sanctions package, the minister said that Shahid Abdullah knew very well that Hungary had voted for all the sanctions packages so far, but the latest would upend the security of Hungary’s energy supply. “We will not vote for this package,” Minister Szijjártó wrote.
In a post on Saturday, Minister Szijjártó said the effect of the European Union’s planned sanctions package against Russian fossil fuels on Hungary’s energy security and the economy would be akin to a “nuclear bomb”. The “Brussels package” would mean that the price of petrol would jump to 700 forints (EUR 1.8) per litre, and diesel to 800 forints, he said. Hungary will not support such a package, he said.
Photo credit: Facebook/Szijjártó Péter