Hungary FM: No One Can Tell Hungary Where to Buy Its Oil

Peter Szijjarto said no one can dictate where Hungary should purchase its oil. Hungary’s minister of foreign affairs and trade was responding on his social media page to remarks by his Lithuanian counterpart Kestutis Budrys, emphasizing that the Hungarian government will protect both the country’s utility price cuts and its energy sovereignty.

Peter Szijjarto, Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister of Hungary (Photo: MTI)

In a post on social media, Szijjarto reacted to statements by the Lithuanian foreign minister. The Hungarian foreign minister wrote that his Lithuanian counterpart had said he would be ashamed to live in a country that buys cheap Russian oil, and also claimed that purchasing inexpensive Russian oil amounts to giving up autonomy.

Hungary's Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Peter Szijjarto (Photo: AFP)

According to Szijjarto, the Lithuanian politician misunderstands the situation. The Hungarian minister said that the Baltic states have long adhered to the position of the Ukrainian president -  .

stepping to the tune of Volodymyr Zelensky,

the post reads.

By contrast, he added, the Hungarian government does not give in to what he described as Zelensky’s pressure when it comes to energy policy decisions.

No one can tell us where we should or should not buy oil, and no one can force us to purchase oil at a higher price than we have paid so far,

the minister said.

Szijjarto emphasized that the Hungarian government will continue to defend the country’s policy of household utility cost cuts. He noted that in several European countries families pay three to four times more for energy than in Hungary, and that the government’s goal is to ensure that household utility costs and fuel prices do not rise.

In his post, the foreign minister also said that Hungary will resist what he called blackmail by Zelensky and intends to preserve the country’s sovereignty.

At the end of his message, Szijjarto wrote:

And on Sunday we will demonstrate all this at the largest Peace March of all time.

Cover photo: Peter Szijjarto, Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister of Hungary (Photo: MTI)