Russian gas transit — Orban blackmails the EU by ending sanctions

The Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, threatens to end the EU sanctions against Russia if Russian gas transit through Ukraine does not resume. He called the decision "unacceptable".

It was reported by Reuters.

Orban’s blackmail over the cancellation of Russian gas transit

The newspaper reports that the dispute over the suspension of Russian gas transit through Ukraine has escalated as Orban threatened to block the next extension of EU sanctions against Russia if Brussels does not help restore supplies. 

"If the promise is broken, we will not just propose to end the sanctions, we will end them," he stated.

Despite the fact that Hungary supplies Russian gas via the Turkish Stream pipeline through Turkey and not Ukraine, the Prime Minister states that the Ukrainian route is very important for his country. 

In addition, Orban is unhappy that Ukraine’s move to cut off the transit of Russian gas to Central Europe has led to higher energy prices. According to him, this is "unacceptable". 

As a reminder, Russian gas exports through Ukraine stopped on January 1 after Ukraine refused to extend the transit agreement with Russia.

After that, Orban stated that he could "contribute" to the end of EU sanctions against Russia. 

Commenting on this statement, the Prime Minister of Poland Donald Tusk threatened the official with serious consequences and stated that he was "playing on Putin’s team".