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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Slovak counterpart, Robert Fico, declared that they have no intention of abandoning Russian oil, openly opposing pressure from the European Union.
The two leaders emphasized that the energy mix is a sovereign decision of each state and should not be dictated from abroad.
“Nobody has the right to tell us from whom we should get our gas and oil,” Fico said during a speech to a group of citizens in the Hungarian city of Esztergom. He added that “under international law, it is the sovereign right of a country to determine the composition of its energy resources.”
Fico openly supported Orbán's position, describing the EU's aim to end energy dependence on Russia as a "political and ideological decision" that, according to him, will not only hit Slovakia and Hungary, but will harm the entire European continent.
Both leaders argued that abandoning supplies through the Druzhba oil pipeline is economically and technically impossible, due to their landlocked geographical position, which makes it difficult to diversify energy sources.
This stance puts them at odds with the policies of the EU and the US, which are considering stricter measures against remaining Russian crude oil exports.
Orban and Slovak President Peter Pellegrini discussed the issue last week during a meeting with US President Donald Trump.
According to Fico, the meeting was "constructive and fruitful."
US President Donald Trump called on European countries to "stop buying oil from Russia", stressing that the sanctions they have imposed on Russia are not tough enough.
"European countries are my friends, but they buy oil from Russia. We cannot be expected to be the only ones who oppose Europe buying oil from Russia. I do not want them to buy oil. The sanctions that they have imposed are not tough enough. I am ready to impose sanctions, but they will also have to toughen their sanctions in line with what I do," Trump said.
Declaring that he is ready to take action against Russia, Trump defended the idea that European countries should also follow a similar policy.
He claimed that European countries are currently just talking, but not taking action. "We're not buying oil from Russia. They're buying a lot of oil from Russia. That wasn't the deal," Trump stressed.
Trump added that Russia and Ukraine have not yet sat down at the table to negotiate a "possible peace deal" because they hate each other so much and that he is not happy about it.
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