Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Tuesday signed a European Union (EU) treaty banning Russia’s oil imports and granting an exemption to pipeline supply that benefits his country.
“Families will be able to sleep soundly tonight, we avoid the scariest idea,” Orban said in a video posted on Facebook.
“We have reached an agreement that states that countries receiving oil through pipelines can continue to operate their economies under preconditions,” he added.
The measure prohibits the importation of Russian oil by sea, which, according to the EU, would account for two-thirds of the total.
Orban had threatened to veto the deal and warned that suspending supplies would harm the country’s economy and jeopardize energy security.
EU officials met in Brussels on Monday to negotiate the deal amid concerns expressed by Hungary and other neighboring countries heavily dependent on Russian oil.
A general ban “would have been unbearable for us … like an atomic bomb, but we managed to avoid it,” Orban said.
European Council President Charles Michel said Monday night’s compromise to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine cuts off “a major source of funding for the war machine”.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the measure would “effectively reduce almost 90 percent of Russia’s oil imports to the EU by the end of the year”.
source: Noticias
