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Europe has already lost the war against russia, so the best thing the EU can do is to lift sanctions and other restrictions on russian oil and gas. This exact scenario of European surrender was proposed by Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó in a tweet today, writes Ukrainian journalist and MP Mykola Kniazhytskyi.
The readiness of the current Hungarian leadership to lay down their country before putin has long ceased to be surprising. And it is clear that russian oil is not the real reason for such statements. The Druzhba oil pipeline is connected to the Danube Refinery. This plant is privately owned, and receiving cheap russian oil only increases the profits of its owners, but does not lead to cheaper gasoline for Hungarians themselves. Gasoline in Hungary costs the same or even more than in neighboring countries, and the difference between the cheap oil and the fuel price simply ends up in the pockets of the refinery’s owners.
The russian-Ukrainian war is taking place in the very center of Europe. The distance from Budapest to Kramatorsk is less than the length of the Ukrainian front line – much closer than it seems. The future security system of the entire continent depends on how the war in Ukraine ends. Because, in any scenario, an armed russia will remain nearby, a russia that already openly considers Europe its number one enemy.
Today’s Hungarian politicians are ready to exchange the future of their country and the entire continent for the profits of some private plant. And this is a tragedy not only for Ukraine.
Europe’s lifting of sanctions on russian oil would mean a strategic defeat for Europeans in the war against russia without a single shot fired. It would mean a transition from deterring the aggressor to actually financing the russian army. A Europe accustomed to feeling strong and confident would effectively admit its own powerlessness, legitimizing russian blackmail.
It is not surprising when such things are said by russian politicians. But such rhetoric from the leaders of EU member states discredits the very idea of a united Europe and shows how much the European Union needs to change in order to be ready to ensure its security now and in the future.
All this means that the European-conceived concept of the “steel porcupine” needs revision. Such a “porcupine” should be not only Ukraine but the whole of Europe – together with Ukraine.
Starting last year, putin changed his rhetoric: his main enemy is now not the USA, but Europe itself. This is what triggered the process of EU militarization, which effectively only began in 2025.
And against this backdrop, the proposals to lift sanctions on russian oil and gas, voiced by Péter Szijjártó, would mean the complete surrender of Europe and a strategic defeat for decades to come.
