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Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis at a press conference in early May
Photo: GEORGI LICOVSKI / EPA
In the European Union, displeasure is growing that Hungary does not want to support a planned oil embargo against Russia.
"The whole Union is being taken hostage by a member state," criticized Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis on the fringes of a meeting with his EU colleagues in Brussels.
Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney also insisted on a “very clear signal to the Kremlin and Moscow”.
Austria's Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg called on the member states to unite: "We in Europe are incredibly good at showing disagreements again and again," he reprimanded.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba was also expected to attend the talks.
Borrell: "Doing our best to defuse the situation"
Around two weeks ago, the EU Commission proposed a gradual import ban on crude oil and oil products from Russia.
However, according to EU diplomats, Hungary has so far prevented the necessary unanimous decision by the EU states for the sixth package of sanctions.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán threatened a veto because he sees his country's energy supply at risk.
Hungary covers more than 60 percent of its oil and around 85 percent of its gas requirements with deliveries from Russia.
"We are doing our best to defuse the situation," said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.
Since there are "rather firm positions", he cannot guarantee that this will be successful in the discussions.
Baerbock does not expect a breakthrough in negotiations
The negotiations between the EU countries about an oil embargo were supposed to have been completed more than a week ago.
However, according to diplomats, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria are also demanding longer transition periods to implement the import ban and billions in aid for the construction of new pipelines.
The EU Commission's original proposal was to end imports of Russian crude oil in six months and oil products in eight months because of the Ukraine war.
Hungary and Slovakia should be given 20 months.
Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) did not expect a breakthrough at the meeting with her counterparts.
"That won't be the final clarification here today," said Baerbock.
But she was "very confident" about an agreement "in the next few days".
fek/AFP/dpa