BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungary will veto Bulgaria’s entry into the Schengen area unless it removes a transit tax on Russian gas, the Hungarian foreign ministry said on Saturday.
This threat follows the agreement reached on Thursday between the 27 member states of the European Union, with the exception of Hungary, to begin accession negotiations with Ukraine, despite the Russian invasion.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s resistance in Brussels has allowed him to gain some points in Moscow, with whom his nationalist government has maintained regular contacts, even during the war in Ukraine, and which still provides landlocked Hungary with most of its gas.
Citing Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó, the ministry said Hungary had made clear to Bulgaria that it would veto its entry if the tax on Hungary’s main gas import route was maintained.
“We made it clear to the Bulgarians that if they maintain this tax for a long time, if they endanger the security of Hungary’s energy supply for a long time, we will veto their entry into the Schengen area,” said Peter Szijjártó.
He added that Hungary would lift its veto as soon as the transit tax was repealed.
While Western European countries have made great efforts to wean themselves off Russian gas, Hungary received 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas per year from Russia under a deal signed in 2021, mainly via Bulgaria and Serbia.
Peter Szijjártó said Bulgaria’s decision, which he said goes against European regulations, threatened security of supply not only in Hungary, but also in Serbia and North Macedonia.
“While the tax aims to reduce the profits of Gazprom, which, according to the gas supply agreements, would have to bear the cost, it could nevertheless lead to transit disruptions and/or higher costs for countries receiving gas. gas via this route,” UniCredit economists said in a note.
(Reporting by Gergely Szakacs; written by Alison Williams and Giles Elgood, French version Benjamin Mallet)
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