Hungary’s foreign minister Szijjártó urged the European Union to immediately lift the ban on importing Russian oil and gas

The European Union should “immediately lift the ban on imports of Russian oil and gas.”

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó wrote this on his page on the social network X.

According to him, amid the escalating war in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, “a significant share of global energy supplies is under threat.”

“Europe is especially vulnerable because the EU has already banned imports of Russian energy resources. Now the conflict in the Middle East is also reducing global supplies. When supply shrinks, prices rise. Thus, Europe faces the risk of a sharp price increase. If Brussels maintains sanctions, it will cause serious harm to the European people and the European economy. The main focus should be on protecting Europeans’ interests, not ideology,” the minister wrote.

As previously reported, last week Szijjártó traveled to Moscow to agree on supplies of Russian oil and gas at the previous price.

Earlier, Hungary accused Ukraine of refusing to allow Russian oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline. Ukraine, for its part, says the pipeline has been damaged.

Meanwhile, the EU may resume discussions about the need to buy Russian gas because of the war in the Middle East and the related disruptions to energy supplies.