Hungary will challenge the European Union's plan to end Russian energy imports and take the case to an EU court, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Friday, Euronews reports.
Speaking on state radio, Orbán accused the bloc of trying to sidestep his veto power over sanctions on Russian energy by instead using trade rules in its plan to phase out all imports of Russian oil and gas by the end of 2027.
"We are turning to the European Court of Justice in this matter," Orbán said.
"This is a flagrant violation of European law, the rule of law and European cooperation ... They will pay a very high price for this."
Landlocked Hungary remains heavily dependent on Russian fossil fuels and has sought exemptions and threatened to veto EU sanctions since Moscow's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
During a visit to Washington last week, Orbán secured an exemption from US sanctions on two Russian energy companies following a White House meeting with US President Donald Trump.
During a press briefing with Hungarian media following his talks with Trump, Orbán said Hungary had "been granted a complete exemption from sanctions" on Russian gas delivered via the TurkStream pipeline and oil from the Druzhba pipeline.
"We asked the president to lift the sanctions," said Orbán. "We agreed and the president decided, and he said that the sanctions will not be applied to these two pipelines."
Hungary agreed to buy US liquefied natural gas (LNG) as part of the discussions, the US State Department said, noting contracts were expected to be worth about $600 million (€518.6 million).
