Hungarian Foreign Ministry warns Ukraine of consequences in case of barriers to gas transit from Russia

Hungary has not vetoed the extension of anti-Russian sanctions, but this does not mean that it will not do so in March during the decision-making on the extension of sanctions against individuals. Peter Szijjarto, the country's Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations, told reporters on January 27 after a meeting of European Union (EU) foreign ministers.

"I would like to note that our decision not to veto now in no way predicts our voting behavior in the future. In March it will be necessary to decide on the preservation of sanctions against individuals, then, in six months, again on sanctions, if the situation is still similar to the current one," he said during a broadcast published on his Facebook page (owned by Meta, the corporation is recognized as extremist and banned in Russia).

The head of the diplomatic department pointed out that Kiev's slowdown in restarting gas transit could negatively affect the vote on European integration or financial aid to Ukraine.

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Earlier in the day, EU diplomatic chief Kaja Kallas officially confirmed the extension of anti-Russian sanctions for six months. In turn, Szijjártó said that Budapest had received the required energy security guarantees from the European Commission, without which it refused to extend sanctions against Russia.

Also on Monday, Bloomberg reported that Budapest had been postponing a decision on extending sanctions since December 2024.

Prior to that, on January 25, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban would face consequences if anti-Russian sanctions are blocked. According to him, in this case, the Hungarian prime minister would allegedly take the side of the Russian president.

Western countries have increased sanctions pressure on Russia after the start of the special operation to protect civilians in Donbass, which was announced on February 24, 2022.