Hungary’s oil embargo exemption is the latest sign of its leader’s affinity for Russia.

The European Union’s long-delayed deal to embargo Russian oil, effectively exempts Hungary from the costly step the rest of the bloc is taking to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

While Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orban, has cast his weekslong opposition to the deal as purely about shielding his country’s economy, it was also the latest step in what has been a decade-long turn of Hungary’s leadership toward closer alignment with Russia, at times at the expense of relations with its fellow members of the European Union and NATO.

The pivot has occurred despite deep-seated suspicion in Hungary of Russian power and influence based on the history of Russian and Soviet troops brutally cracking down on Hungarian uprisings in 1848-49 and in 1956. Read more

@nytimes