Hungary to veto EU sanctions on Russian oil

BUDAPEST, Hungary

Hungary's prime minister said on Friday that proposed EU sanctions on Russian oil are "unacceptable," and that it will veto them.

"This is unacceptable," Viktor Orban, who won a fourth successive term last month, said during his weekly address on state-run Kossuth Radio, referring to the European Commission's president's new sanctions package, which seeks a ban on Russian oil imports.

Hungary, a landlocked country, must acquire its oil needs from Russia via pipelines, he said, adding that accepting the ban would be disastrous for the country's economy.

Orban said replacing Russia as the country's oil supplier would be far more expensive. "From the beginning, we made it clear that there would be a red line, which is the energy embargo, and they (the EU) have crossed that red line," he added.

He also opposed the inclusion of Patriarch Krill of Moscow, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, on the EU's list of sanctioned individuals for his support of Russia's war on Ukraine, which began in February.

So far, the EU has imposed five sets of sanctions targeting individuals, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, oligarchs, and military officers, as well as banning the export of luxury goods and imports of coal, and barring Russian and Belarusian banks from using the SWIFT global financial messaging system.

* Writing by Ahmet Gencturk​​​​​​​