Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –
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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News
Budapest, October 20 (Xinhua) — Hungary intends to use all political and legal means to block the European Union's proposed REPowerEU plan, which aims to ban Russian energy imports. Hungarian Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Péter Szijjártó announced this in Luxembourg on Monday.
Speaking after a meeting of EU foreign and energy ministers, P. Szijjártó noted that the proposed ban has no energy, professional, economic, or security justification, but is driven solely by political and ideological motives.
P. Szijjártó criticized the European Commission for what he said was its failure to understand the potential impact of its plan on individual EU member states, warning that its adoption would “seriously jeopardize” the energy security of Hungary and Slovakia.
As the head of the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs added, pushing through the package by qualified majority voting would “openly violate EU law,” since the initiative effectively represents a sanctions measure requiring unanimous approval.
"The real impact of this package will be to undermine the security of energy supplies to Hungary and, to a significant extent, Slovakia," the minister emphasized, noting that Hungary's payments for Russian oil and gas amount to "only 0.2 percent of Russia's GDP."
According to P. Szijjártó, Hungary rejects lectures on European solidarity, while measures are being proposed that undermine the energy security of member states.
The European Union is currently promoting a strategy to gradually end its dependence on Russian energy resources. In June, the European Commission adopted a legislative proposal to phase out imports of Russian gas and oil by the end of 2027.
Hungary and Slovakia, both landlocked, have expressed serious doubts about the plan, warning that a rapid supply cut could threaten their energy security and economic stability.
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