Hungary sticks to Russian gas, US calls it ‘dangerous addiction’

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By Vladimir Soldatkin and Boldizsar Gyori

ST PETERSBURG/BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungary signalled on Thursday it had no plans to abandon natural gas imports from Russia and sought to deepen business ties with Moscow in non-sanctioned areas, triggering a strong rebuke from Washington over its “dangerous addiction” to Russian energy.

A day after Hungary, which gets most of its energy from Russia, announced a deal to acquire a 5% stake in Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz gas field, its foreign minister travelled to Russia to affirm energy ties with the Kremlin.

While countries in western Europe have made serious efforts to wean themselves off Russian gas since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, landlocked Hungary has been receiving 4.5 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas per year from Russia under a 15-year deal signed in 2021.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, who was in St Petersburg for an economic forum, said Hungary was pleased with its cooperation with Russia on gas supplies and has no plans to stop purchasing gas from Moscow despite pressure to do so.

“You can sneer, find excuses or criticise but that is beside the point,” Szijjarto said in a Facebook post.

“It is impossible to ensure Hungary’s energy supply without Russian energy resources and that has nothing to do with politics or ideology but is rooted in plain facts of physics.”

Hungary is the only European Union member whose leader, Prime Minister Viktor Orban, has maintained friendly ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Orban’s government has roiled EU and NATO allies by maintaining close business ties with Russia and by refusing to send weapons to Ukraine.

Just ahead of Szijjarto’s visit, Orban told Hungarian website Mandiner late on Wednesday that he wanted to expand business ties with Moscow in areas not affected by Western sanctions on Russia.

Szijjarto’s comments on Thursday drew a sharp rebuke from Washington.

“Hungary’s government says it is the ‘party of peace’ while continuing to stand with Putin’s party of war. Hungary’s addiction to Russian energy is dangerous and unnecessary,” U.S. Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman said on Facebook.

“The laws of physics in Hungary are no different than the laws of physics in every single one of Hungary’s EU partners, all of whom have chosen to reduce dependence on Putin,” he said.

A Hungarian government spokesman did not immediately respond to emailed questions for comment on the envoy’s remarks.