Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said the European Commission's plan to scrap Russian energy imports "is an attack" on affordable Hungarian utility bills, arguing that Hungary's annual energy imports would balloon by around 600 billion forints (EUR 1.5bn).

Minister Szijjártó said Hungary was being forced to pay the price of the Commission's support for Ukraine, adding that the decision to force member states to break off energy cooperation with Russia was politically and ideologically motivated.

Member states, he added during the break of a government meeting, had the sovereign right to choose their energy sources owing to the Versailles Declaration adopted by EU leaders in 2022, and the commission was now "violating this sovereign right" with yesterday's proposal.

Minister Szijjártó said Brussels wanted Hungarians to "pay the price" for its "senseless and unending support for Ukraine".

The minister also said that the EU would pay a heavy cost for fast-tracking Ukraine into the bloc.

"We will fight against this decision," Minister Szijjártó said. "We won't allow the Hungarian people to pay the price for Ukraine's fast-tracked accession to the European Union."