In the struggle for an oil embargo against Russia, the EU Commission is approaching Eastern European countries. Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia should be given longer transition periods before imports are stopped, an EU diplomat said today to the Archyde.com news agency.
Hungary and Slovakia should be able to obtain Russian oil by the end of 2024. For the Czech Republic, the deadline should be mid-2024, unless a new pipeline via southern Europe is completed earlier.
In principle, the derogations should only apply to pipeline oil. In addition, there should be help for new oil supply systems. Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala spoke of a step in the right direction. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that if there was no agreement between the states on the embargo at the weekend, he would convene a special meeting of foreign ministers next week.
Orban: Oil boycott “nuclear bomb” for economy
Most recently, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban reiterated his rejection of the EU Commission’s proposal. “It is tantamount to an atomic bomb being dropped on the Hungarian economy,” said the right-wing politician today on state radio.
His country could not replace Russian oil imports in the 20-month period that the proposal explicitly provides for Hungary. “According to our own calculations, we need five years for the conversion (to oil without Russian imports), a delay of one or a year and a half does not help,” said Orban.