- miniszterelnok.hu - https://2015-2022.miniszterelnok.hu/statement-by-prime-minister-viktor-orban/ -

Statement by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán

We are in London, and the summit of the V4 prime ministers and the British prime minister has just finished. This was followed by bilateral Hungarian-British talks. The topic of the war swept all other issues off the table. It is clear that we all have a vested interest in this war coming to an end as soon as possible through negotiation. In the coming weeks both they and we will make every effort for the restoration of peace. We also spoke about the impacts of the economic sanctions; they are taking their toll on everyone throughout Europe, and Hungary is no exception. The extension of the sanctions to the energy sector, to the oil and gas sectors, would represent a disproportionately large burden for Hungary. Therefore I made it clear that while we condemn Russia’s armed offensive and we also condemn the war, we will not allow Hungarian families to be made to pay the price of the war; and so the sanctions must not be extended to the areas of oil and gas. Most of Hungary’s oil and natural gas imports come from Russia, and 90 per cent of Hungarian families heat with gas. The Hungarian economy simply cannot function without oil and gas.