Hungary Would Seek Exemption from Potential Gas Price Caps

Hungary will not agree upon an EU gas price cap and would need an exemption if one is implemented according to a senior aide to Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

• •EU leaders are discussing a potential price cap this week as part of efforts to tackle the European energy crisis, though consensus to put one in place appear slim with both Germany and the Netherlands publicly opposed.
• •"It will simply not work. The outcome will be that we will have less gas in Europe, at a higher price, contradicting the original purpose," Balazs Orban, political director for the Hungarian prime minister said on a gas cap.
• •"For Hungary this is not acceptable because the Russians already said very clearly that if it happens they will not send any more gas to Hungary, which from an energy security perspective would be unacceptable to us," he said.
• •"So if the European Union makes a decision that they want to have a price cap, there would have to be a special model or exception for Hungary, like what happened with oil," Orban said.
• •Hungary has proved the biggest obstacle for the EU placing sanctions on Russia, publicly criticizing their effectiveness and seeking numerous exemptions.