BRATISLAVA – The Hungarian government wants the new seven-year budget of the European Union to include compensation for member states that have restricted or terminated supplies of Russian energy raw materials. This was stated by Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar after a summit of the Visegrad Group in Bratislava. According to him, the European Union must offer concrete financial support to Central European countries, which are bearing high costs associated with the transition from Russian gas and oil to other sources.
Magyar is calling for measures based on specific data that would help Central European companies manage the change of energy suppliers, the transition from fossil fuels to alternative sources, and at the same time develop infrastructure for energy storage. According to the Hungarian Prime Minister, the current energy situation is complex not only in Europe but also worldwide. "We need concrete proposals for every European," Magyar said. He considers it particularly important that it should be clear how the European Union intends to help companies that are facing problems due to high energy prices.
The Hungarian Prime Minister also criticized the current approach of the EU leadership. According to him, European institutions primarily talk about protecting economic competition, while some companies in Central Europe face existential problems. "Central European companies are going bankrupt because they can no longer pay their electricity and gas bills," he said. Magyar also warned against the consequences of regulating fuel prices. According to him, maintaining price ceilings for a long time could lead to shortages of gasoline and diesel. He added that the financial situation of member states does not allow them to bear the increasing costs of energy transformation without further European support.
The Hungarian government, in its political program for the Tisza party, has pledged to eliminate the country's dependence on Russian fuels by 2035. However, the program did not include a specific plan on how to achieve this goal. After taking power, the cabinet reaffirmed this intention and declared an effort to diversify energy supplies. At the same time, the Hungarian government acknowledges that completely ending imports of Russian oil and natural gas is currently impossible. Therefore, Hungary continues to cooperate with Russia in the energy sector.
Russian oil flows into the country mainly through the Druzhba pipeline, while natural gas comes primarily through the TurkStream pipeline and its branch through Bulgaria and Serbia. According to previous data from the Hungarian government during Viktor Orbán's tenure, Hungary imported more than 8.5 million tons of oil and over seven billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia in 2025. The dispute over the shape of energy policy remains one of the important topics in relations between Budapest and Brussels.
gnews.cz - Geoffrey Hunt