Hopes for EU ban on Russian oil regardless of Hungary evaluating plan to ‘nuclear bomb’ | European Union

France has mentioned a deal on a proposed EU ban on Russian oil might be struck this week, regardless of opposition from the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, who has in contrast the plans to an atomic bomb.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, held a telephone name with Orbán on Tuesday in an effort to interrupt the impasse over the newest spherical of EU sanctions, the sixth for the reason that eve of the invasion. There have been “contacts at all levels to ensure we have a global deal on this sixth package”, a spokesperson on the Élysée Palace mentioned after the decision. Clément Beaune, a Macron ally and France’s Europe minister, mentioned he thought “we could strike a deal this week”.

Meanwhile, Ursula von der Leyen mentioned there had been progress after making a last-minute sprint to Budapest to debate the plans with Orbán on Monday evening.

The European Commission president described the dialogue as “helpful to clarify issues related to sanctions and energy security”. “We made progress, but further work is needed,” she added, promising to carry a video convention with different nations within the area to spice up cooperation on oil infrastructure.

EU diplomats insist all 27 member states are united behind the thought of a ban on Russian oil, with sources near the talks describing the delay as technical relatively than political.

However, the EU had hoped to announce the oil embargo and a brand new set of sanctions on influential Russians earlier than final weekend, following Von der Leyen’s presentation of the plans on the European parliament final Wednesday.

About 1 / 4 of the EU’s oil comes from Russia, however some nations use much more. Slovakia and Hungary, landlocked nations which might be almost 100%-dependent on Russian oil, have been supplied a delay in imposing the oil embargo till the tip of 2024, to allow them to overtake their refineries. The Czech Republic has been supplied a delay till June 2024, whereas the total ban would come into pressure for the remainder of the EU by the tip of this yr.

Orbán mentioned final week that “in its present form” the proposal was “tantamount to dropping a nuclear bomb on the Hungarian economy”. The Hungarian international minister, Péter Szijjártó, repeated the phrase earlier than Monday’s talks with Von der Leyen, in response to Orbán’s worldwide spokesperson, Zoltán Kovács.

Hungary says it wants 5 years and a whole bunch of billions of forints to transform its Százhalombatta refinery close to Budapest, which might solely take Russian oil. Hungarian officers say they might get oil from Croatia, however this is able to require their southern neighbour to spice up its capability.

A European Commission spokesperson mentioned on Tuesday that Von der Leyen had been invited by Orbán to debate “issues related to European energy security and supply” and had gone to Budapest “to listen and to search for solutions jointly”. The dialogue didn’t go into timelines on phasing out Russian oil in Hungary, the spokesperson mentioned, however targeted on oil transportation infrastructure.

Orbán has additionally threatened to dam makes an attempt to sanction Patriarch Kirill, the pinnacle of the Russian Orthodox church, who has described the assault on Ukraine as a “religious cleansing operation”.

Speaking on Hungarian radio final week, Orbán mentioned the Orthodox group in Hungary had written to him protesting in regards to the cleric’s inclusion on a draft record that may imply a journey ban and asset freezes within the EU. Orbán mentioned he opposed imposing sanctions on church leaders “because that would affect the religious freedom of communities in Hungary, which is sacrosanct”.