Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Hungary condemns Russia’s military attack and the war but will not allow Hungarian families to be made to pay the price of war.
Following a summit of the Visegrad Group and the British prime minister in London, PM Orbán said the war has overwhelmed every other topic on the table. “It is clear that bringing an end to this war through negotiations is in all of our interests,” the prime minister said, emphasizing that all efforts would be made to restore peace over the coming weeks. Tuesday’s talks also touched on the effects of the sanctions imposed on Russia which PM Orbán said would be felt by all of Europe including Hungary. Expanding the sanctions to the energy sector, the oil and gas sectors would put a disproportionately heavy burden on Hungary, the prime minister said. PM Orbán said he had made it clear that “we condemn Russia’s military attack and the war but we will not allow Hungarian families to be made to pay the price of war.” These sanctions must not cover oil and gas imports, PM Orbán said. Hungary buys most of its oil and natural gas from Russia and 90 percent of Hungarian families heat their homes with gas, he said, adding that the Hungarian economy could not function without oil and gas.
Photo credit: MTI