Russian energy: how far will Orbán get with Trump?
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is meeting US President Donald Trump at the White House today to discuss Russian energy supplies. The Hungarian oil company MOL is hoping to be exempted from the latest US sanctions on doing business with the Russian companies Lukoil and Rosneft. Commentators take different views of Orbán's chances of success.
Friendly relations conducive to agreement
The pro-government news website Vasarnap.hu is optimistic that the meeting will end in an agreement:
“Because of the good personal relations between the two leaders there is no need to worry about energy issues. Viktor Orbán recently explained to Donald Trump that Hungary is in a predicament: its lack of access to the sea means that oil and gas can only be transported into the country via pipelines, and if this can only be done via Croatia it will result in enormous dependence, so it's in our country's fundamental interest to use energy from Russia. Trump understood and accepted this argument at the time, so there's a good chance that he will do again.”
PM needs to clarify a few things here
Telex takes a slightly different view:
“From a political perspective it will probably be a very friendly meeting, but from a practical, economic perspective, there could be some tensions. The US expects Hungary to reduce its energy imports from Russia as quickly as possible. ... The Hungarian government maintains that the country can't get by without Russian energy imports and is trying to convince Trump of this. But it's doubtful whether the current situation will really be beneficial for Hungary in the long term. Moreover, this dependence (especially at its current level) doesn't seem insurmountable: diversifying imports would certainly be possible.”
Potential implications for Ukraine's EU accession
Népszava asks what Trump could demand from Orbán:
“If Orbán manages to prevent US sanctions from being imposed on Hungary because of its Russian energy imports, the extra profits generated by the war in Ukraine will remain with [Hungarian oil company] MOL and can be used to continue financing the government's propaganda machine and pre-2026-election handouts. ... Some hope - partly out of wishful thinking - that Trump will ask Orbán to stop blocking Ukraine's EU accession negotiations in exchange. While this would certainly be desirable, it's unlikely that Orbán will give in on this issue before the elections. At least not publicly.”