It’s published
Donald Trump and Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban discussed Hungary’s Russian oil imports yesterday evening, confirmed Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Sjjart.
“The Prime Minister recently spoke with President Donald Trump. They discussed several issues, including the state of war, the potential for peace, the potential for the world economy, the circumstances arising from tariffs, and of course, the problems with the energy supply in Central Europe. This happened a few hours ago.
Previously, Donald Trump called for all NATO allies to break Russia’s war economy to suspend oil imports from Russia. He said he was ready to talk to Orban about the issue.
“He’s my friend. I haven’t spoken to him, but I feel he might stop if he does, and I think I’ll do that,” Trump said earlier this week.
Orban ministers discussed the contents of the phone during a press conference held in Budapest on Thursday.
“He made the US president realize the Hungarian angle needed to make reasonable decisions to the interests of the nation and to keep utilities down. The president understood these aspects,” Griyas said.
The minister added that Hungary has few options to diversify its oil supply due to limited capacity in the Adria pipeline from Croatia entering Hungary.
Pressure to grow in Hungary to abandon Russian oil
Hungary’s Victor Orban is a close political ally of European Donald Trump, as the views of the two leaders are consistent with regard to migration and right-wing policies. But the latest push for Trump to put pressure on Putin to end the war could harm Hungary’s economic model, which relies on cheap imports of Russia’s fossil fuels.
In addition to the US administration, the EU is also stepping up efforts to halt energy imports from Russia.
The committee previously presented an ambitious roadmap to eliminate all purchases of Russian fossil fuels by the end of 2027.
But amid pressure from Trump, Brussels has taken a step towards speeding up things with a new sanctions package.
On Wednesday, the committee revealed that tariffs could hit Russian fossil fuels.
Hungary has enough capacity and alternative routes to replace Russian Ural oil, according to Attila Holoda, Hungary has enough capacity and alternative routes to replace Russian Ural oil, which would risk the profits of the Hungarian oil and gas companies.
“Mol cites technical difficulties because he doesn’t want to give up on this benefit,” Holoda said.
