As the European Union considers new sanctions against Russia, the Hungarian government has stated that it would be willing to pay for Russian gas supplies in rubles if Moscow demanded payment in its national currency.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who won a landslide national election victory in Sunday’s elections, told the media that his country would pay for Russian gas in roubles if the Russian government requested payment in the currency.
Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has also claimed that the European Union has no say in the country’s gas contracts as the deal was negotiated between companies in Hungary and Russia bilaterally, Reuters reports.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree requiring “unfriendly” nations to pay for Russian gas in roubles after European countries, along with the United States and others, enacted sanctions against Russia following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February.
“They must open ruble accounts in Russian banks. It is from these accounts that payments will be made for gas delivered starting tomorrow, April 1,” President Putin said last week.
Some European politicians have called for the European Union member states to embargo Russian gas following the alleged massacre in the suburbs of Kyiv, which some have attributed to Russian forces who left the area.
The Baltic nation of Lithuania agreed to embargo all Russian gas supplies, while countries like Germany and Austria — which is dependent on gas imports to keep the economy alive — have refused such a proposal. Austria imports as much as 80 per cent of its natural gas from Russia, while Germany imports just over half of its gas from the country.
“Cutting the gas tap so much overnight would have a serious impact on our daily lives, our energy supply and our economy,” Georg Knill, President of the Federation of Austrian Industries, stated last month and added, “To be clear on this: we cannot sustain the economy as we know it without gas from Russia.”
Hungary is also highly dependent on Russian gas imports, likely explaining the country’s desire to maintain supplies despite the political cost of bending to Moscow’s will in a time of war.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, meanwhile, announced a new sanctions package against Russia this week that will also affect Russian oil exports and will ban the import of Russian coal into Europe.
“These sanctions will not be our last sanctions,” Von der Leyen said and added, “Now we have to look into oil and revenues Russia gets from fossil fuels.”