Hungarian Prime Minister Orban: The only way out is to lift sanctions on Russian energy

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban responded to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who had compared the recent activities of US President Donald Trump and Orban himself to "Putin's dream plan" in a social media post. Referring to the crisis arising from the war in Ukraine, Orban said, "Europe is heading toward the most severe economic crisis in its history. The world is facing a serious energy crisis. Europe is in great danger. The only way out of this is to lift the sanctions imposed on Russian energy. Immediately. We must think not of (Russian President) Putin, but of our own countries and our own peoples. Donald (Tusk), instead of warmongering, you should love and save your own country."

"It looks like Putin's dream plan"

In his social media post today, Tusk had stated, "The threat of NATO's disintegration, the softening of sanctions against Russia, a massive energy crisis in Europe, the halting of aid to Ukraine, and Orban blocking the loan to Ukraine. All of this looks like Putin's dream plan."

Orban accuses Ukraine of causing a fuel crisis

The Hungarian government's insistence on continuing to use Russian energy and its stance regarding Ukraine stand in stark contrast to the European Union's (EU) foreign policy and have led to harsh criticism from EU leaders. The Orban government had blamed Ukraine for the disruption of flow in the Druzhba oil pipeline, which transports a large portion of the oil used by Hungary and Slovakia, and had blocked the 90 billion euro loan that the European Union decided to allocate to Ukraine.

The Hungarian leader had accused Ukraine of trying to influence the results of parliamentary elections by creating a fuel crisis in the country ahead of the elections, and accused the European Union of dragging the continent into war by becoming increasingly involved in the war between Ukraine and Russia.

The parliamentary elections to be held in Hungary on April 12 are expected to be a decisive battle for Europe and Ukraine between the Fidesz Party led by Orban and the Tisza Party led by opposition leader Peter Magyar, who advocates for Hungary to pursue a more pro-European policy.

News Source: 12punto