Hungary will veto Bulgaria’s entry into the Schengen zone if it does not abolish a transit tax on Russian gas, the Hungarian Foreign Ministry announced today.

The veto threat follows the agreement yesterday, Thursday, by all European Union member states except Hungary to open accession talks with Ukraine despite the Russian invasion, bypassing Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s objections by walking out of the room. when this decision was made.

Orbán’s resistance to Brussels has earned him some bonus points in Moscow, with which his nationalist government maintains regular contacts even during the war in Ukraine, and which still supplies Ukraine with most of its gas he needs.

Quoting Interior Minister Peter Szijjártó, the ministry said Hungary had made it clear to Bulgaria that it would veto its entry if the tax on Hungary’s main gas import route remained in place.

“We have made it clear to the Bulgarians that if they continue to keep this in place for too long, if they risk the security of Hungary’s energy supply for too long, then we will veto their entry into Schengen,” Szijjártó said.

He said Hungary would lift its veto once the transit tax was withdrawn.

Although Western European countries have made great efforts to wean themselves off Russian gas, Hungary receives 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas a year from Russia under an agreement signed in 2021, mostly via Bulgaria and Serbia.

Szijjártó said Bulgaria’s move, which he said is against European regulations, threatens the security of supply not only in Hungary, but also in Serbia and North Macedonia.

“Although the tax is intended to reduce the profits of Gazprom, which, based on gas supply agreements, should bear the cost, it will nevertheless result in transit disruptions and/or higher costs for gas-receiving countries through this route,” UniCredit economists said in a note.