Hungary\u2019s newly elected leader, Peter Magyar, stormed to power last weekend after campaigning to, among other things, take a step back from Russia.<\/p>\n
Instead, Magyar has promised voters he will steer Hungary back towards the European Union, following the 16-year rule of far-right Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who went to great lengths to deepen ties with Russia.<\/p>\n list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n Under Orban, Hungary opposed most of the European Union\u2019s stances against Russia and \u00a0blocked sanctions and obstructed military aid for Ukraine.<\/p>\n Above all, he and his Fidesz party entrenched Hungary\u2019s reliance on Russian oil.<\/p>\n Now, following a massive electoral turnout and a landslide victory, Magyar \u2013 once a devotee of Orban and now leader of the centre-right Tisza party \u2013 has promised to end Russian oil imports by 2035. But how realistic a goal is that? And can he achieve it?<\/p>\n Hungary has been central to keeping Russian oil and gas flowing into the EU, even as Europe and the US banned some imports and imposed sanctions on anyone paying more than $60 a barrel for Russian oil.<\/p>\n Following Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, the EU banned seaborne imports of Russian oil but kept land flows legal. That allowed Hungary to continue importing most of its crude by pipeline via Ukraine.<\/p>\n The EU first announced plans to phase out Russian energy imports in May 2022, shortly after Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. In December 2025, a binding agreement was made for member nations to completely phase out Russian oil and gas imports by late 2027. But, <\/b>instead of diversifying from Moscow, Hungary increased its dependency.<\/p>\n According to a 2026 report by the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD), Hungary had expanded its reliance on Russian crude from 61 percent in 2021 to 93 percent by 2025.<\/p>\n Much of the crude oil Hungary imports from Russia comes via the Druzhba pipeline. It is one of the key pipelines that ensures the continued flow of Russian crude to both Hungary and Slovakia. At 5,500 km (3,420 miles) long, it begins in Almetyevsk in western Russia and runs into Belarus. It splits at Mozyr, with one branch going to Poland and Germany and the southern branch goes through Ukraine into Slovakia, Hungary and Czechia.<\/p>\n In January, the section of the pipeline running through Ukraine suffered significant damage. Ukraine blamed a Russian airstrike \u2013 Moscow denies that.<\/p>\n Hungary and Slovakia have complained that Ukraine has been deliberately slow to repair the damage. As a result, in March, Orban vetoed a 90 billion euro ($106bn) loan from the EU to Ukraine until the pipeline reopens.<\/p>\n On Tuesday this week, Ukraine\u2019s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said oil will flow again through the conduit by the end of April as he expects the new Hungarian leadership to lift its veto on the loan by then.<\/p>\n As for gas, Hungary remains one of the most dependent EU member states on Russian natural gas, accounting for roughly three-quarters of its annual imports, the CSD report shows.<\/p>\n Since the start of Russia\u2019s invasion, Hungary has imported an estimated 15.6 billion euros ($18.4bn) worth of Russian gas. Long-term contracts with Russia\u2019s state-owned Gazprom, the continued reliance on TurkStream \u2013 a natural gas pipeline running from Russia to Turkiye \u2013 and \u201cthe weak use of alternative interconnectors have locked the country into Russia\u2019s reconfigured gas export system\u201d, the CSD report states.<\/p>\n Nuclear energy dependency is yet another issue. Hungary granted Rosatom, the Russian state nuclear energy corporation, the construction contract for the expansion of its Paks atomic plant, 100km (62 miles) southwest of Budapest on the Danube River. Russia, in turn, provided Hungary with a state loan to finance most of the development of new reactors. The European Commission approved the plan in 2017 and construction started in February.<\/p>\n Now, Magyar says he intends to reassess the project\u2019s financing. But the Paks plant provides 40 to 50 percent of all electricity generated in Hungary. The expansion plans will increase that to between 60 and 70 percent, which would cut reliance on imported energy, but keep Hungary tied to Russia.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\nRecommended Stories <\/h2>\n
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