Hungary will violate EU sanctions if it pays for Russian energy in rubles.
The President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen informed CNN.
“We did an analysis of the decree of Putin [on payments for gas in rubles], and the legal case is very clear. What Putin is suggesting – this transforming euros into rubles and then paying the gas bill — it would be a breach of sanctions. If you do that, pay in rubles, you breach the sanctions, you circumvent the sanctions we put on Russia,” she said.
According to Ursula von der Leyen, the EU is negotiating with Budapest to avoid such a situation.
“So far Hungary has stuck to the sanctions, so until we don’t see the opposite, it’s fine. Never before have we seen the European Union so united, so determined, so fast. And I think for each of our member states, also a question, do I want to be the first one to break that unity? I think no,” she said.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said his country is ready to pay for russian gas in rubles after russian president Vladimir Putin signed a decree requiring "unfriendly countries" to pay for gas in russian currency.
Today, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, and Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Geger are in Ukraine. In particular, they visited Bucha, liberated from the russian occupiers.