Hungary threatens to block Ukraine's EU accession over suspension of Russian energy transit
Péter Szijjártó, Hungarian Foreign Minister, has threatened to block Ukraine's accession to the European Union in response to the registration of draft law No. 12380 in the Ukrainian parliament, which would ban the transit of Russian oil and gas through Ukraine during martial law.
Source: Szijjártó on Facebook
Details: Szijjártó pointed out that decisions on the admission of new members to the EU are taken collectively and unanimously by all member states. He stressed that each state has the sovereign right to choose the sources and routes of energy supplies necessary for its functioning and that external influence in this matter is unacceptable.
Quote: "Each country has the sovereign right to decide where and how it procures the energy resources necessary for it to function. No external entity can influence this decision. No one can impose more expensive or less secure energy sources on another country.
A country that signs an Association Agreement with the EU or aspires to become an EU member must contribute to the EU's energy security by providing transit routes. Therefore, closing gas or oil routes is unacceptable and contradicts the expectations associated with EU integration."
Background:
- Ukraine's Foreign Ministry emphasised in a statement that Russia has always been the sole cause of issues in the European energy market. For decades, the Kremlin has weaponised energy, resorting to blackmail against European governments and undermining energy security.
- Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó accused Ukraine of putting the European Union in a difficult economic situation by stopping the transit of Russian gas.
- After that, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico sharply criticised Kyiv for these actions and wrote a letter to EU leaders expressing dissatisfaction with the steps taken by Ukraine.
- A delegation of Slovakia's far-right MPs, led by Deputy Speaker and leader of the nationalist party SNS Andrej Danko, is set to travel to Russia in January to "develop dialogue" following the visit by Fico.
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