EU extends Russia sanctions; Hungary gains gas assurances
EU foreign ministers unanimously decided on Monday in Brussels to extend the economic sanctions on Russia, which were initially set to expire this coming Friday. Hungary, which had previously blocked the extension, received assurances that the European Commission will continue to negotiate with Ukraine regarding the possibility of gas transit.
Due to the risk of Hungary blocking this decision, on Monday morning—before the ministers' meeting—a gathering of ambassadors from member countries took place in Brussels.
According to an EU source, during the meeting, Hungary was supposed to receive guarantees from the European Commission regarding talks with Ukraine about gas transit—these negotiations will continue, and both Hungary and Slovakia will also be included.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto stated before the ministers' meeting that he expects official guarantees from the European Commission regarding the security of gas supplies. Ukraine decided not to extend the agreement for the transit of Russian gas, which expired at the end of the year.
Orban waited on Trump
Budapest has been blocking the extension of economic sanctions imposed on Russia due to the war in Ukraine, citing the change of power in the US as the reason.
After Donald Trump was sworn in as President of the United States, Hungary began demanding guarantees concerning the transit of gas through Ukraine.
If the member countries had not unanimously decided to extend the restrictions, which they do every six months, the sanctions would have expired at the end of January.
