WASHINGTON (AP) — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Friday his country has received an exemption from U.S. sanctions on Russian energy after a meeting in the White House with President Donald Trump.
Watch Trump and Orbán's meeting in the player above.
The allowance will keep Russian oil and gas flowing to Hungary in a sign of the close affinity between the two leaders.
A large delegation of cabinet members, business leaders and numerous right-wing political influencers with close connections to Hungary's government accompanied Orbán to Washington. The delegation rented a 220-passenger commercial jet from Hungarian carrier Wizz Air for the journey.
Prior to Orbán's arrival on Thursday, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced a resolution calling on Hungary to end its dependence on Russian energy.
The resolution was co-signed by 10 senators including Republicans Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Chuck Grassley of Iowa, as well as Democrats Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Chris Coons of Delaware. It "expresses concern that Hungary has shown no sign of reducing its dependence on Russian fossil fuels," and urges Budapest to adhere to a European Union plan to cease all Russian energy imports into the bloc by the end of 2027.
"Europe has made extraordinary progress cutting its energy ties with Moscow, but Hungary's actions continue to undermine collective security and embolden the Kremlin," Shaheen wrote in a statement. The resolution, she continued, "sends a clear message that when it comes to buying Russian energy, all allies should be held to the same standard, and that includes Hungary."
On Friday, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Washington that he will sign a bilateral nuclear energy cooperation agreement with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to Hungarian state news agency MTI.
The deal will involve Hungary's first-ever purchases of American nuclear fuel, which it currently buys from Russia, and introduce U.S. technology for the on-site storage of spent fuel at Hungary's Paks nuclear plant. The agreement will also include cooperation on small modular reactors.
After arriving in Washington, Orbán and some of his top officials met with Eduardo Bolsonaro, the son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who in September was sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting a coup after an election loss. Orbán posted on social media: "We stand firmly with the Bolsonaros in these challenging times — friends and allies who never give up. Keep fighting: political witch-hunts have no place in democracy, truth and justice must prevail!"
Orbán says no alternatives to Russian oil
At the heart of Orbán's appeals for an exemption is his claim that Hungary, landlocked in the heart of Central Europe, has no viable alternatives to Russian crude, and that replacing those supplies would trigger an economic collapse. Critics dispute that claim.
Yet Trump has indicated Orbán's arguments may have stuck a chord. In October, he called Orbán a "very great leader," and said Hungary was "sort of stuck" when it came to Russian oil purchases. Trump said Hungary has "one pipeline" — the Druzhba, which delivers Russian crude through Ukraine and into Central Europe.
However, another pipeline, the Adria, which originates at Croatia's Adriatic coast, also delivers non-Russian crude to Hungary's main refinery — a route Orbán's critics and the Croatian oil transport company argue could handle Hungary's energy needs.
Daniel Fried, an Atlantic Council fellow who is a former U.S. ambassador to Poland, dismissed Orbán's complaints that Hungary doesn't have other options for energy.
"Don't insult everyone's intelligence," Fried said, noting that Poland, also in Central Europe, spent years preparing for alternatives. "Hungary has done none of this. They've whined and complained."
While most EU member states sharply reduced or halted imports of Russian fossil fuels after Moscow invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Hungary and neighboring Slovakia have maintained their pipeline deliveries. Hungary has even increased the share of Russian oil in its energy mix from 61% before the war to around 86%, according to a report by independent researchers.
Peter Rough, a senior fellow and the director of the Center on Europe and Eurasia at the Washington-based Hudson Institute, said that though Hungary has enjoyed a competitive advantage over other European states by procuring Russian supplies, "Clearly, President Trump's decision to wield the sanctions hammer against Russian oil … has gotten Hungary's attention."
"Budapest has resisted diversifying its energy mix for years, despite persistent urging," Rough said. "The alarm bells must now be ringing in Budapest."
Budapest summit?
In October, Trump announced he would meet again with Putin for negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine, and that Hungary's capital would provide the venue. The decision was seen as a win for Orbán, and as an attempt by Trump to provide a political boost for his ally who in April is set to face the most challenging election of his last 15 years in power.
Orbán praised the decision to hold the meeting in Budapest, and suggested the choice could be seen as a "political achievement."
But the meeting was soon scuttled, with Trump saying he didn't want a "wasted meeting" with Putin, who showed no signs of backing off his maximalist demands on the war.
Yet officials in Budapest are still hopeful a Trump-Putin meeting could materialize. On Wednesday, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in a press briefing that high on the agenda for Friday's meeting "will be the possibility of making peace in Ukraine."
"If U.S.-Russian preparatory work is successful, Hungary is ready to host a peace summit," he said.
Hungary, a NATO member, has refused to supply neighboring Ukraine with weapons or allow their transfer across its borders. Orbán has threatened to veto certain EU sanctions against Moscow, and held up the bloc's adoption of major funding packages to Kyiv.
Orbán has often taken an adversarial stance toward Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and consistently cast as warmongers his European partners that favor assisting Kyiv in its defense. Yet Orbán's many critics in the EU view Hungary's position as favoring the aggressor in the war and splintering European unity in the face of Russian threats.
With few friends in Europe, the Hungarian leader is banking on favor from Trump. Fried, the Atlantic Council fellow, said that after Orbán's heavy investment in Trump's MAGA ecosystem, with his meeting on Friday "he's going to find out what it's worth."
Spike reported from Budapest.