from russia in roubles? the eu says you mustn t, that would be a breach of contract and a breach of sanctions, but your pm seems to say, yeah, we ll pay in roubles if you really want us to, mr putin. so, what s the truth here? the truth is that nine european countries are paying for gas and oil as it is required by russia for the moment, because that s a technical issue. so, you know exactly how it works, how the russians have put the new payment mechanism into work, and again, it s a must for the hungarian economy and the hungarian households that we have energy, so on that, we cannot compromise. so, you re paying in roubles. see, itjust seems on a whole host of these issues the sanctions issue, the payment issue and on the arming of ukraine issue you are completely out of step with fellow members of the european union and nato. does that worry you? no, because hungary has always
for the past 30 years. let me stop you, because you ve already, if i may, iwant to stick with what you re going to do next, because ursula von der leyen, the commission chief, has made it plain that the commission intends to put this before all member states, this oil embargo. are you telling me when it comes to coherent, cooperative eu action, you will exercise your veto? is that what you re going to do? shortly, yes, but at the end of the day, you have to again remember how the european union works. the proposal s coming from brussels and again, it s important to emphasise this is coming from brussels, that is the administrative, bureaucratic centre of the european union, not from the member states is proposing something that is unacceptable. they exactly know the hungarian position, they are familiar with the facts, they are familiar with the ratios, actually, of russian gas and oil in our energy portfolio and the importance for our economic system. so, they exactly know that
now we come to the land and area of speculation and fairy tales and, with all due respect, stupidity and lies. lies are going to remain lies, whoever is trying to suggest it. and this is indeed. this is indeed we are asking for. don t put fuel on the fire when there is a problem in your country. suggesting that hungary has a different opinion or different interest in ukraine is a lie, a flat lie, that is not doing any good, actually, in the relationship of the two countries. yeah. well, you told the eu observer that mr 0rban had said that you will not send weapons to hungary because those weapons might be used against hungarian people. what on earth was he talking about? the hungarian minority isjust living across the borders. you seriously think the ukrainian government might turn its guns not on the russian invaders, but on the hungarian population ukrainian population
a cool headed, strategic and national interest based approach is what the hungarian stance is. right. but i only ask you whether you feel vulnerable. sorry, mr kovacs. we re nearly out of time. i only ask you whether you feel vulnerable because, as you know, brussels has launched a rule of law mechanism against your government now. you stand to be punished, not least very significant financial punishment, because of your failure to meet eu standards and values. and at the very same time, you re losing your friends in the region. that s not good, is it? especially that, what you are suggesting, actually. again, the use of words is very important. punishing is not exactly what you would expect from a bureaucratic centre of the european union in face of the political realities on the ground, the will of the hungarian people and the hungarian government s stance on these issues. we all know that the rule of law mechanism, especially in the format it is being used against hungary, is a poli
husband slapped and hit her in drunken rages. in his testimony, mr depp denied any wrongdoing. now on bbc news, hardtalk with stephen sackur. welcome to hardtalk, i m stephen sackur. the eu is looking to tighten the straitjacket around the russian economy by imposing a ban on russian oil imports by the end of the year, or next year in the case of hungary and slovakia. but budapest has steadfastly opposed talk of an energy embargo and often seems to view brussels with more distaste than moscow, regardless of putin s invasion of ukraine. my guest is zoltan kovacs, the orban government s international spokesperson. so, whose side is hungary on?