Hungary and Slovakia have vetoed the latest package of punitive measures due to energy security concerns, the Hungarian FM has said

Hungary and Slovakia have blocked the European Union's 18th sanctions package against Moscow, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has announced. The bloc's proposal to cut Russian energy imports would deal a major blow to his country's energy security, he explained.

Budapest has opposed EU sanctions on Russian energy since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, saying the imports are vital to its national interests. The country has a long-term contract with Russia's Gazprom and receives the bulk of its oil and gas from Russia. Slovakia has also voiced similar concerns.

Speaking at a press conference following a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, Szijjarto said that "we, together with Slovakia, prevented the adoption of the [18th] sanctions package today," which would mostly have focused on Russia's energy sector.

The diplomat clarified that Budapest and Bratislava vetoed the sanctions package because in separate trade legislation, Brussels has proposed phasing out all remaining Russian gas flows to the EU by the end of 2027. The minister argued that this would severely undermine Budapest's energy security and lead to a sharp spike in energy costs for Hungarians.

"We are not willing to have the Hungarian people pay the price for supporting Ukraine," Szijjarto insisted.

The EU-wide phasing-out plan that Szijjarto referred to was announced by EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen last Tuesday, with the backing of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

The proposal, which is currently opposed by Hungary, Austria and Slovakia, and reportedly by Italy, is expected to be introduced as trade legislation, which under EU rules does not require unanimity among bloc members to become law, but merely the support of at least 15 of the EU's 27 member states.

Commenting on the plan, Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev, said that "EU Commission bureaucrats seem obsessed - with making the EU as uncompetitive as possible on the global stage."

While pipeline flows have dropped sharply since 2022, EU imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) have soared. Russia supplied 17.5% of the bloc's LNG in 2024, trailing only the US at 45.3%, according to industry data. France, Spain, and Belgium accounted for 85% of the EU's LNG imports from the sanctioned country, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).

Russia maintains that it is still a reliable energy supplier, while denouncing Western sanctions and trade restrictions targeting its exports as illegal under international law.

(RT.com)