It would be "physically impossible" for Hungary to replace Russian fuel with hydrocarbons from other sources, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in a CNN interview.
"Energy supply is a physical question. It’s not philosophical, not political. Why we have asked for the exemption from the oil embargo was the fact that in the case we have not got it. It would be physically impossible to supply the country enough oil," he said.
"If the Russian deliveries are being phased out, no physical opportunity to replace it. Geography has determined the infrastructure. In order to change <…> delivery routes you need a couple of years. A lot of money, but even more important in this case a couple of years, 5-6-7 years," the minister continued.
"The question is whether you can replace Russian oil or gas in order to operate in your own country. Currently the answer of ours is no. The answer is not because we don’t want it. The answer is no because it physically is not possible," he added.
According to Szijjarto, otherwise the people of Hungaria will have to "pay the price" for the conflict in Ukraine.
"We don’t want this [conflict], but we can not solve it for tomorrow to replace the Russian energy supply by anything else," he said.
