EU officials are considering financial compensation for Hungary to persuade Prime Minister Viktor Orban to support sanctions on Russian oil.
This writes European Pravda with reference to Politico.
The European Commission hopes to use payment mechanisms in its upcoming announcement of an energy strategy called REPowerEU, which will be announced on May 18 and should include funds for the EU countries, including Hungary. The REPowerEU strategy aims to phase out the bloc from Russian fossil fuels well before 2030.
"The more we can help Hungary with REPowerEU, the faster they can move away from Russian oil," a senior EU official said.
It is unclear whether an agreement can be reached with Hungary before the EU ambassadors meet again on Wednesday morning, several diplomats and officials said. Initially, the goal was to pass the bloc's sixth sanctions package on Monday.
The energy discussion is separate from the dispute between the Commission and Budapest over cuts to Hungary's funding for undermining rule of law standards in the bloc, the official said. According to another senior EU official, neither side has tried to confuse the issues.
Negotiations between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Orban on Monday ended inconclusively, and a follow-up video conference scheduled for Tuesday was cancelled.
The most recent EU sanctions plan, circulated on Sunday, provided for Hungary and Slovakia, which are heavily dependent on Russian oil, term until the end of 2024 to comply with the oil ban. This is two years more than in the rest of the EU. The Czech Republic will have a deadline until the end of June 2024.
But Hungary has indicated that it needs even more time to reduce its dependence on Russian oil. Officials said that in order not to stretch the timeline, a form of financial compensation could also be considered.
We will remind, earlier the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen revealed the details of the sixth package of EU sanctions against Russia.
However, the media reported that the EU was unable to agree on the sixth package of sanctions against Russia because of Hungary. The country continues to block a ban on Russian oil in a new package of sanctions.
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