Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó announced that the country will not stop relying on Russian energy supplies, despite U.S. demands for NATO allies to halt Russian oil imports. In an interview at the UN General Assembly, Szijjártó stated that Hungary cannot ensure energy security without Russian oil and gas. He emphasized the importance of existing infrastructure for energy imports, highlighting that alternatives are not feasible at the moment.

The remarks followed former President Donald Trump’s calls for NATO to unify in stopping Russian oil purchases as a condition for imposing new sanctions on Russia. Hungary, which imports about 5 million tonnes of oil annually through the Druzhba pipeline, has faced pressure from other European leaders to cease such imports, but these appeals have largely been ignored.

While Szijjártó criticized Western European officials for what he described as fanaticism, he expressed a positive shift in Hungary’s relationship with the U.S., noting that it has improved significantly since Trump’s presidency. Meanwhile, Finland’s President Alexander Stubb and Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski voiced support for Trump’s stance on reducing dependency on Russian energy, urging Hungary and Slovakia to reconsider their positions.



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