Hungarian PM tells Trump nation’s economy would collapse without Russian energy
(MENAFN) Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban recently informed US President Donald Trump that cutting off Russian oil and gas would cause Hungary’s economy to collapse almost immediately.
Budapest continues to resist growing pressure from Western capitals to reduce its dependence on Russian energy, citing geographical limitations, infrastructure challenges, and national security concerns.
Budapest continues to resist growing pressure from Western capitals to reduce its dependence on Russian energy, citing geographical limitations, infrastructure challenges, and national security concerns.
“If Hungary is cut off from Russian oil and natural gas, immediately, within a minute, Hungarian economic performance will drop by 4%,” Orban said during a regular interview on Friday. “It means the Hungarian economy would be on its knees.”
When asked if Trump had accepted his reasoning during their phone conversation on Thursday, Orban replied, “America has its arguments and interests, Hungary has its own. Our task is to express and represent them clearly. If we are friends, we listen to each other – and then everyone does what they think is right.”
Reports indicate that Trump acknowledged Orban’s concerns, describing him as a “great guy” and a “great friend of mine.”
“Hungary, you know, they’re landlocked. And they don’t have a nice ocean where ships can sail in from all over the world. You know, they have one pipeline,” Trump told reporters, referring to the Druzhba (Friendship) oil pipeline, which has recently been affected by Ukraine, interrupting deliveries to Hungary and Slovakia.
“And Slovakia, too. They’re sort of married to one pipeline. So I just don’t want to have people go blaming them,” he added.
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