Orbán won? EU’s embargo on Russian oil exempts pipeline deliveries
The European Union’s sixth package of sanctions on Russia has passed, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó noted on Thursday, after the ambassadors of EU member states approved the final draft of the text. The package exempts pipeline deliveries of Russian oil from the embargo.
In a Facebook post, Szijjártó said “it was a long fight but it was worth … [resisting] pressure and the mainstream’s demand that we abandon our national interests, and it was worth enduring the false accusations of many European politicians and journalists.”
The package exempts pipeline deliveries of Russian oil from the embargo, which will ensure Hungary’s energy security, Szijjártó said. “Had we not fought the way we did, supplying Hungary with crude oil would have become impossible and the economy would have ground to a halt.”
Meanwhile,
Hungary also succeeded in having Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox church, removed from the sanctions list,
he said. “This was a matter of principle for us as we insist on protecting religious freedom as much as national interests,” he said. “It would be terrible to imagine the processes launched by sanctioning the leader of one of the largest Christian churches in Europe,” he said.