Hungary only EU member to vote against "unfounded, unenforceable" gas rationing deal, foreign minister says

 

Hungary was the only EU member to vote on Tuesday against a deal to ration gas this winter to avoid a severe supply shock, the government said.

"The EU gas saving regulation is baseless, unenforceable and completely disregarding the interests of the Hungarian people, which is why the Hungarian government was the only member state that voted against the adoption of the regulation," Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in Brussels. Prime Minister of Hungary Cabinet Office International Spokesperson's Office.

On Tuesday, EU energy ministers agreed to a voluntary target to cut gas consumption by 15% between August 2023 and March 2023. The European Commission did not publish the results of individual member states' votes.

For Hungary, "this decision is totally unacceptable, its implementation is impossible. The proposal completely ignores Hungarian interests, but it is also more painful for other EU citizens than for those it targets," Zoltan Kovacs, an international spokesman for the Hungarian Prime Minister's Cabinet Office, quoted Szijjártó on Twitter.

According to Zoltan Kovacs, Brussels "has taken another step towards a wartime economy", Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Tuesday.

All but one member state voted for the deal, an EU official told CNN. The official did not specify which state voted against.