Hungary first: Veto against oil embargo

When leaders take their oath of office, they pledge to always act for the good of their people. In Germany, this claim has been little more than an empty phrase for some time now. In this country, people are not afraid to make foreign interests their own, as the recent discussion about arms deliveries to the Ukraine shows. “Why Germany is hesitating when it comes to heavy weapons” or “Can Germany not supply tanks, or does it not want to?” are the almost reproachful headlines in many media outlets. Anyone who has reservations about supplying weapons to a war zone is considered a Kremlin puppet.

Hungary is once again a dissenter within the EU. The country had already blocked arms deliveries to Ukraine via Hungarian sovereign territory in March. Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has now announced that his country will veto the package of sanctions planned by Brussels, including the oil embargo against Moscow. What the government around Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will probably be accused of as a Russophile declaration of friendship actually shows something completely different: Hungarian interests come first for them.

Orbán: Hungary stands for peace
"We will not allow the Hungarian people to pay the price for the war," Szijjártó stressed on Monday. According to the government, the sanctions package would amount to "dropping a nuclear bomb" on the Hungarian economy. Gasoline prices are expected to rise to 700 forints (around 1.83 euros) and diesel to rise to 800 forints (around 2.10 euros). What many Germans can hardly afford would be a guarantee of poverty for Hungary. The country gets its oil almost exclusively from Russia. According to Orbán, a changeover would take years.

“We have been through wars ourselves, so we need to be clear from the start about who is at war with whom and what our relationship is to each other. According to the Hungarian view, this is a Russo-Ukrainian war,” the head of government reiterated his position of non-intervention on Saturday. Russia started the military conflict with its attack on Ukraine, but Hungary should not take part of it. “We represent a position, namely that of peace. We are not on either side of the warring parties. Every step taken by the Hungarian government is aimed at achieving an immediate ceasefire as soon as possible,” Orbán continued.

German citizens should save energy and freeze
Already in the 2018 parliamentary election campaign, his governing party Fidesz had clearly referred to the priority of national interests with the slogan "For us, Hungary comes first". Certainly the Trump euphoria at the time and his motto “America first” also played an important role.

While Orbán wants to protect Hungary from skyrocketing prices, the traffic light coalition encourages local citizens to save energy and freeze against Putin. Despite the unreasonable financial burden, nothing slows down the federal government's zeal when it comes to being a pioneer in matters of morality - whether in war or climate protection. Somewhere on the federal government's list of priorities, their own people may appear, but they certainly do not rank first.

Source: Junge Freiheit