Europe is heading towards one of “the most severe economic crises in its history,” the Hungarian PM has warned
The EU is facing a looming energy crisis and the only way to survive is to lift sanctions on Russian oil and gas, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on X on Thursday.
He was replying to an earlier post by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who lamented the outcomes of years of EU policy, without seeming to be able to understand its consequences. Tusk bemoaned a “massive energy crisis in Europe,” threat of the US pulling out of NATO, the reported redirection of American arms supplies from Ukraine to the Middle East, as well as Washington easing sanctions on Russian energy supplies.
“It all looks like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s dream plan,” Tusk claimed.
In his response, Orban urged Tusk to worry about his own country and people, rather than Putin.
Instead of warmongering, love and save your country, Donald!
“Europe is heading toward one of the most severe economic crises in its history… Europe is in grave danger. The only way out is to lift the sanctions imposed on Russian energy. Immediately,” Orban wrote.
Kremlin investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev chimed in, calling Orban “one of the few voices of wisdom and reason in Europe.”
“He understands the severity of the upcoming energy and economic crisis and, unlike EU bureaucrats, knows what needs to be done to minimize the damage,” he replied in an X post.
Dmitriev has been sounding the alarm about the looming energy crisis since the US and Israel launched their war on Iran in late February.
The conflict has disrupted global supply chains and thrown energy markets into turmoil. As of Thursday, the price of crude has risen to around $111 per barrel, while the price of gas in the EU has spiked to around €50 ($58) per MWh, a 56% increase from February.
The bloc’s Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen has warned member states to prepare for a prolonged fuel disruption. The consequences would outlast the Iran conflict “because energy infrastructure in the region has been ruined by war,” he told reporters after a meeting of energy ministers in Brussels on Tuesday.
