Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated on Friday that Hungary will continue purchasing oil and natural gas from Russia, despite calls from U.S. President Donald Trump to stop cooperation with Moscow.
Orbán told state television that halting Russian energy imports would immediately shrink Hungary’s economy by four percent, describing such a scenario as “catastrophic.”
Hungary remains one of the few European countries still buying energy from Russia since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in February 2022. Trump had urged NATO members, including Hungary, to stop Russian energy imports, claiming that doing so could help end the war.
Orbán emphasized that Hungary will act according to its own national interest, highlighting the country’s sovereignty and the logistical challenges of switching to alternative Western energy sources. Other landlocked countries in the region, such as the Czech Republic, have successfully stopped Russian energy imports, while Slovakia continues purchasing Russian energy.
