Hungary sets up separate ministry to deal with energy crisis

The subject was previously integrated into a large portfolio of Technology and Industry, headed by Laszlo Palkovics who preferred to leave his post.

Nationalist leader Viktor Orban, unaccustomed to seeing ministers leave since his return to power in 2010, has accepted his resignation, his chief of staff Gergely Gulyas told the press.

From now on there will be a separate ministry to respond "to the rise in prices caused by the war in Ukraine and the policy of sanctions (of the European Union)", he explained.

It is a 60-year-old economist and businessman, Csaba Lantos, who will take the lead. According to Hungarian media, Laszlo Palkovics slammed the door after disagreements with other members of the government on the development of renewable energies.

"He has a long-standing commitment to green energy (especially wind farms and photovoltaic power plants), while others are strongly opposed to it," wrote the Telex news site.

The person concerned, an influential figure in the Orban government since 2018, has not spoken publicly.

Over the past decade, the Hungarian Prime Minister has favored the use of Russian nuclear power and hydrocarbons, on which the Central European country is highly dependent.

Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, the leader has taken care to preserve good relations with the Kremlin to continue to receive gas and oil. He has also obtained exemptions from the European embargo on Russian crude.