Hungary’s foreign minister said on Saturday the European Commission’s decision not to mediate in a dispute over a blockage of oil supplies from Russia via Ukraine into his country suggested that Brussels was behind the stoppage.

Hungary and its neighbour Slovakia have been protesting since Ukraine put Russian oil producer Lukoil on a sanctions list in June, stopping that company’s oil from passing through Ukrainian territory to Slovak and Hungarian refineries.

The assertion from Hungary’s Peter Szijjarto, which he made without providing evidence, came a day after the European Commission declined a request from Hungary and Slovakia for it to mediate between them and Ukraine over the sanctions.

[Edit: I deleted a ‘Opens New Tab’ link]

  • @DicskaEnglish
    4•19 days ago

    Oh, we’re past that. In 2022 they made restrictions on wood cutting more lax, allowing felling of trees in previously protected areas. It caused pretty bad health issues in the winter in smaller towns, especially in valleys where the chimney smoke can’t even leave the area.

    So way into the 21st century, the government actually promoted heating with wood (partly from previously protected areas), and the next year when solar power gained some popularity, they made it harder and more expensive/less profitable to install solar panels and connect them to the grid. All this shortly after their propaganda slogan “Hungary is going forward, not backward”.