Hungary affirms its commitment to the gas deals it signed with Russia

Spokesman of the Hungarian government Zoltán Kovács on Saturday announced that his country is committed to gas deals it has signed with Russia, pointing out that paying the price of Russian gas in ruble won’t violate the European sanctions on Moscow.

In an interview with CNN network, Kovács said “The European Union so far has no common procurement of gas and oil for European countries.” Therefore, Hungary and Russia have contracts to acquire this and the currency we pay in is just a technical aspect.”

He added that the Hungarian economy and people are 85% dependent on Russian gas.

“We did not create this situation, we inherited it and there is no other solution,”, Kovács pointed out.

 The Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto also said that Hungary can pay for Russian natural gas without violating European Union sanctions against Russia. His remarks came in response to a warning from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Earlier this week, the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that Hungary was ready to pay for Russian gas in rubles if needed, but Von der Leyen said doing so would be in breach of sanctions imposed on Moscow over its military operation in Ukraine.

Hamda Mustafa