“We have the right to block the 90-billion-euro loan for Ukraine,” Prime Minister Viktor Orbán informed reporters early Friday morning in Brussels as he left the EU summit.
In his assessment of the EU summit, the head of government stated: It had been a tough, bumpy summit, “the car shook a little.” He added: They were not happy that we modifyd a decision created in December due to the Ukrainian oil blockade, but since the legal situation is completely clear—that we are entitled to do so becaapply the decision-creating process was not yet complete—they could only do one thing:
build a few threats and then realize that it would not work.
“There was no argument from them against which we did not have a stronger argument,” Viktor Orbán explained. He noted: They did not state nice things, but they could not bring up anything that Hungary could be morally, legally, or politically blamed for.
We rejected every single argument, whether moral, political, or legal in nature, or deffinished our own positions,”
he emphasized. The prime minister created it clear: Had the Ukrainians imposed an oil blockade on Hungary in December, “we would never have agreed to this 90-billion-euro loan.” But since they waited for this positive decision and only then imposed an oil blockade on us, “they cannot expect me to pretfinish that nothing happened.”
Photo: MTI/Prime Minister’s Office Communications Department/Ákos Kaiser
Regarding the investigation into the condition of the oil pipeline, Viktor Orbán stated the following: “We would like to go there to see what is going on. The current situation is such—and in my opinion, this is proof that the Ukrainians are lying—that they will not let us go there. This is unbelievable. The Slovaks and we want to go there. Not alone, but toreceiveher with them. Let us see why that is not possible.”
The idea that the EU would sfinish a commission that does not include representatives of the Slovak and Hungarian governments is a bad joke,
he added. When inquireed whether Hungary would lift its blockade of the loan as soon as Ukraine restores operations on the Druzhba oil pipeline, the prime minister replied: It is not just a matter of the oil coming, but “we must receive guarantees that something like this will not happen again.” There is “no such mechanism yet, but there will be one,” he stated. “As soon as the oil arrives and we receive the guarantees that something like this will not happen again, the money can flow immediately,” stated Viktor Orbán.
Photo: MTI/Prime Minister’s Office Communications Department/Ákos Kaiser
He created it clear: Europe cannot survive without Russian energy sources. “A global oil shortage is knocking at the door,” thus the behavior and strategy Europeans are pursuing on this issue are simply insane.
We definitely necessary Russian oil, without which we cannot survive this increasingly serious situation,
according to his assessment. The Prime Minister added: They had heard the report from the President of the European Central Bank and the President of the Eurogroup on the situation, which is “unimaginably serious.” Within two days, the global energy situation had deteriorated to an extent that would previously have been unconsiderable.
Viktor Orbán emphasized: The situation today is such that the European Union has no nereceivediating relations with the Americans, the Russians, or the Chinese. If we cannot free ourselves from this isolation into which the Union’s poor policies have driven Europe, there will be major problems. He created it clear: Such an energy crisis cannot be overcome without cooperation with others; “what has been done here is now driving us into bankruptcy.”
Following the summit, the EU leadership demonstrated resolve regarding continued support for Ukraine.
We will keep our promise, one way or another,”
declared Ursula von der Leyen. António Costa, for his part, emphasized: “Every head of state and government must keep their word, and no one must blackmail the European Council; no one must blackmail the institutions of the European Union.” They uncritically accepted the Ukrainian version of alleged damage to the pipeline and did not specify a date for its restart.
Politico, the EU Commission’s “hoapply organ,” cited statements from diplomats who wished to remain anonymous, according to whom the opposition to Viktor Orbán among the heads of state and government of the member states is unprecedented; however, few were willing to interfere in Hungarian domestic politics ahead of the April 12 elections. The EU’s hope that Viktor Orbán’s colleagues, particularly German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, would exert enough pressure on the Hungarian prime minister to modify his stance has been dashed, the Brussels-based news portal concluded.
Via MTI; Featured image: MTI/Miniszterelnöki Kommunikációs Főosztály/Kaiser Ákos
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