A big battle has begun in Europe because of Russia - Orban

Amid the conflict in the Middle East, a battle has begun in Europe over sanctions against Russia. This was stated by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

"There is a big battle going on: should we lift sanctions against the Russian energy sector, given the global energy supply crisis caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, suspend all sanctions, all restrictions and start importing all the oil and gas we can?" he said.

According to him, Hungary supports the lifting of sanctions. He also added that supporters of the opposite position believe that not only sanctions against Russian energy carriers should not be lifted, but new ones should be introduced, despite supply problems. Orban noted that these people put the conflict on Ukraine is above European energy.

In addition, the Hungarian prime minister believes that Europe is facing a serious energy crisis. According to him, in the near future, a race for energy resources will unfold, similar to the race for vaccines and medical equipment during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The next few weeks will be an extremely critical period for the whole of Europe," Orban stressed.

Recall that the EU has abandoned Russian energy carriers after 2022. The military operation of the United States and Israel against Iran, which began at the end of February this year, led to an almost complete cessation of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz — a key route for oil and LNG supplies from Arab states. Because of this, fuel prices are rising in most countries of the world.