French FM Catherine Colonna 'Confident Of EU Oil Ban'

France's new Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna has told reporters she is optimistic that a new European Union sanctions package to phase out Russian oil imports can be achieved, despite ongoing opposition from Hungary.

• Colonna said speaking with her German counterpart Annalena Baerbock in Berlin: 'We must adopt as quickly as possible the sixth package of sanctions that foresees the progressive end of the imports of Russian oil and to lift the remaining reticence.'
• Colonna: 'We hope do it quickly and I'm optimistic.'
• Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, however, maintains opposition to a ban. Orban wrote to the President of the European Council Charles Michel yesterday, saying it was unlikely a solution on the embargo could be reached at the EU heads of state meeting next week.
• Orban has also declared a state of emergency in Hungary in the last few hours. It is understood that the emergency measure will give Orban extensive powers to approve measures by presidential decree.