Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban blamed Ukraine for rising fuel prices in Hungary and called on the European Union to review sanctions on Russian energy, he said in a video message posted on Facebook on Monday, March 9.
Orban said the price of diesel and gasoline in Hungary had increased and warned that the situation could worsen if energy supplies remain disrupted.
According to the Hungarian leader, the price spike is linked not only to the war in the Middle East but also to what he described as a “blockade” of Russian oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline via Ukraine.
He argued that the halt of oil transit posed risks not only to Hungary but to the European Union more broadly.
In response to the situation, Orban said he had convened an emergency government meeting to address the country’s energy challenges.
He also said he had sent a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen calling for a review of sanctions imposed on Russian energy exports.
“Across Europe, we must reconsider and suspend all sanctions imposed on Russian energy,” Orban said.
Orban has long been one of the EU’s most Russia-friendly leaders and has repeatedly opposed or delayed new sanctions against Moscow since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. His government has also criticized EU military aid to Kyiv and argued that Europe should avoid deeper involvement in the war.
Oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline was disrupted earlier this year after Ukraine said infrastructure at the Brody pumping station had been damaged in a Russian attack. The pipeline carries Russian crude to Central European countries, including Hungary and Slovakia.
Tensions between Kyiv and Budapest have escalated in recent days. On March 5, Orban said Hungary could “break the Ukrainian oil blockade by force,” while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the pipeline could theoretically resume operations within “a month to a month-and-a-half.”