Hungary Prime Minister Victor Orban is in parliament today and warning that the energy crisis and rate hikes will bring about an 'era of recession' in Europe.
He's ramped up his rhetoric in opposing a Russian oil ban, saying that he doesn't want people in Hungary paying extra for oil.
The EU is pressuring him to stop blocking the Russian oil ban but he's asked for a 5 year exemption and 17-18B euros in subsidies to rebuild its refineries and infrastructure to orient them away from Russia. Another option is that the EU doesn't ban direct pipeline exports from Russia.
"Some diplomats now point to a May 30-31 summit as the moment for agreement on a phased ban on Russian oil, probably over six months, with a longer transition period for Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic," Reuters reports.
Oil opened higher but then fell on the soft Chinese economic data. It's now down only fractionally.
