BUDAPEST/GÖDÖLLŐ
Zoltán Jónás gets out of his car and turns his head. A paper tag attached to the gas guns at the Orlen gas station says that there is no fuel.
Jónás, who lives in the small town of Gödöllő in the suburbs of Budapest, estimates that he only has gas for 120 kilometers. It barely makes it to work and home in the evening.
– I wouldn’t have thought that people would panic and buy gas stations with empty tanks. I didn’t fill my own canisters in time and here we are, Jónás laughs.
Tomorrow morning, the smile may freeze if you don’t get more fuel quickly.
The surprising fuel shortage is one of the recent plagues of Hungary, which is struggling with support packages with the EU.
The EU threatens to withhold a total of more than 13 billion euros from Hungary’s cohesion and recovery funds.
The EU demands rule of law reforms, i.e. guaranteeing the independence of the judiciary and rooting out corruption. The issue is on the agenda this week at the summit of EU finance ministers and heads of state.
Dependence on Russia was revealed to everyone
Hungary needs EU support, but on the other hand, the prime minister Viktor Orbán the government does not want to dance to Brussels’ whistle.
The attitude of the government is indicated by its and the leading Fidesz party’s nationalistic advertising campaign. The roadside advertisements have a picture of a bomb and the text: “Brussels sanctions will destroy Hungary.”
– Everyone puts the blame on others, no one takes responsibility, selling flowers in the center of Gödöllő Mihály Kádár updates.
The gas shortage affecting the entire 10 million inhabitants of Hungary is due to technical problems in Russian supplies and the local oil refinery. Above all, it tells about how dependent Hungary is on Russian natural gas and oil.
The opposition puts the blame on Orbán’s government, while the government blames the decision-makers in Brussels. Orbán has never publicly criticized Russia.
Director of Mertek Media Monitor, an independent research institute Agnes Urban says he knows the reason for it.
– Over the past months, it has become clear to everyone that Orbán is completely Vladimir Putin exportable. I don’t know if Putin is blackmailing him, but unfortunately our government has chosen Russia as its primary partner, Urbán claims.
Inflation is galloping upwards
Fuel has been affordable in Hungary thanks to the price ceiling set for it. The government had to remove it last week. The price of benzalitra rose overnight by 50 percent, to around 1.70 euros.
Such a sudden price increase could be the fate of florist Kádár. He estimates that he will soon no longer be able to afford the transport of goods.
– My business situation has been deteriorating for several years, but now it is more difficult than ever before, says the father of a family of three.
– A practitioner of this profession cannot carry flowers on his back, but they have to be brought here by car. These flowers of mine won’t sell anymore anyway. My roses are probably going to freeze this winter, he explains exhausted.
Inflation in Hungary rose to 24 percent in November, which is the highest reading in 16 years. The food price increase is estimated to be 40 percent.
It is felt in the low-income economy. Buying vegetables Györgi Bango says that he lost his job and had to move to temporary accommodation. His social security will not be enough to live on.
He shows a wad of bills in his hand. There is his December grant, which is HUF 80,000, or a good 190 euros. His wife Julia receives 70,000 forints, or just under 170 euros per month.
– We don’t know how we will get through the winter, they talk.
“An agreement with the EU is yet to be made”
A solidly built man walks out of the headquarters of the ruling party Fidesz in Budapest.
32 years old Nacsa Lőrinc is the rising talents of the country’s politics. Lőrinc, who started his political career in 2006 in the demonstrations against the socialist government, is in his second term as a member of parliament.
Fidesz, which only rarely grants interviews to foreign media, sends him in front of ‘s camera, probably because he is a member of the parliament’s foreign affairs committee and speaks English fluently.
Lőrinc says that he understands the people’s sorrows, but in line with the party’s line, assures that the problems are not long-term. He considers the roadside advertisements angrily opposing the EU to be part of the matter: In his opinion, Brussels causes Hungary an unreasonable amount of trouble with its sanctions.
However, he does not believe in a more serious confrontation with the Union.
– The Commission has announced that our plan for making the necessary reforms is one of the best of the member countries. We are very positive that an agreement with the EU will be reached, he says.
Agnes Urbán disagrees. He says he is dismayed that Hungary blocked the progress of the 18 billion euro aid package for Ukraine last week in the EU. In Urbán’s opinion, it shows that the Hungarian government no longer has moral principles, but only pursues its own interests.
– Hungary has chosen a path that leads to isolation. It is a dangerous path and also dangerous in terms of Finland’s NATO ratification, he says.
“Finland’s NATO ratification right from the beginning of the year”
The EU dispute and the ratification of Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership are two different things, but connecting them together in the spirit of evening milking would be typical of Orbán.
The Hungarian government has already approved the membership of Finland and Sweden and Fidesz has a qualified majority in the parliament, so the final vote could be held at any time.
However, the key role is played by the prime minister. The timing of the vote depends on when Orbán presents the matter to parliament. There is no certainty about that.
Lőrinc considers the speeches of the doubters about the deliberate prolongation of the vote to be out of the question. He assures that the parliament will ratify the membership of Finland and Sweden soon.
– The matter will be considered already in the first session towards the end of next year. I can promise that we will not be the last member country to ratify NATO, he says.
By this he apparently means that Hungary intends to ratify the NATO membership of Finland and Sweden before Turkey in January-February. Critics of the government remind us that Fidesz has promised one thing before and done another.
Listen to the episode of the Uutispodcast below, in which NATO correspondent Mika Hentunen ponders why Hungary is blocking Finland’s NATO membership and playing in Putin’s pocket.
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