EU imports embargo against Russian oil coming; Hungary likely to cooperate

HUNGARY - In Brief 02 May 2022 by Istvan Racz

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This morning, German ZDF television cited unnamed sources from around the EU Commission, saying that Hungary and Slovakia have withdrawn their intention to veto an EU embargo on oil imports from Russia. As a basic rule, the embargo, which is expected to come as early as this week, would aim at stopping the imports of crude oil and and oil products from Russia completely by end-2022, but Hungary and Slovakia would get temporary exemptions, given their especially high exposure to such imports (64% of all imports and 55% of total domestic use in Hungary).The government reacted by saying that its position has not changed, in so far as they continue to oppose the proposal, which on the other hand does not mean that they would veto it. Hungary has stated that its opposition is based fully on economic and technology concerns, rather than being political. Changing the existing domestic refining technology and replacing Russian oil is indeed expected to take something like 2-4 years and cost a lot to the country. But should Hungary get the required temporary exemption and some financial assistance from the EU, it is very likely to agree to / cooperate with the import ban. Given that the current EU drive to introduce the embargo quickly is getting very strong, especially as Germany has reportedly made great progress in finding new sources of oil imports, and Hungary badly needs proper consideration of its special situation, this is the most likely outcome. PM Orbán's alleged friendship with Mr. Putin is unlikely to play a role here; it is much more likely that Mr. Orbán will want to get some compensation for Hungary's extra costs and also to collect some credit points for his go...