There will be no agreement on the Russian oil embargo at the European summit next weeksaid the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to Politico.eu. The information came hours after Hungarian Viktor Orbán announced that he would vote against it if the issue was discussed.
“not expected” that this agreement exists, so it makes no sense to have “false expectations”, the official said, after it was reported that the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, wrote a letter to the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, recommending that this embargo not be discussed, because there were no conditions for Hungary to vote to favor (unanimity required).
“I do not think this is a suitable issue to be resolved in the European Council because we are having a very technical discussion“, explained Von der Leyen, and continued: “We are talking about landlocked countries that need alternative energy supply through pipelines, so we have to talk about investment in pipelines and we are talking about refineries that need to be upgraded and energies renewable”.
In the letter to Charles Michel, quoted by the Financial Times, Orbán formalizes the Hungarian position that the country refuses to vote in favor of the new package of sanctions – which is only approved if there is unanimity – without there being clear indications. about what kinds of energy alternatives will exist, if the embargo goes ahead, and what European funding can be given to Hungary so that the country can make up for the lack of Russian oil, on which it currently depends.
“Without a consensus, it would be counterproductive to discuss the sanctions package at the level of European leaders,” warned Viktor Orbán, in the letter sent to Charles Michel. If that happens, he continued, “it will only serve to highlight our internal divisions with no realistic chance of resolving our differences.”
Source: Observadora
