European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had supper with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Monday evening at the Carmelite Monastery in Buda castle, which is now the PM’s office, in Budapest, the BBC reports.
No breakthrough was achieved on the proposed sixth sanctions package, which Orban says he will veto in its current form.
“We made progress, but further work is needed. I will convene a video conference with regional players to strengthen regional co-operation on oil infrastructure,” von der Leyen said.
That is expected on Tuesday, with a new meeting of the 27 ambassadors scheduled for Wednesday, according to Hungarian media.
EU sources suggest the commission is offering access to the sea to bring non-Russian oil to landlocked countries like Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
Hungary wants hundreds of millions of euros to adapt its main refineries to take Brent crude.
The Hungarian government is also trying to link any financial compensatory package to the release of €7.2bn (£5.8bn), withheld from Hungary from the post-Covid Recovery and Resilience package over rule of law issues.
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