BUDAPEST, Hungary, Oct 4, (AP): As the European Union pushes to fully sever its reliance on Russian energy and the administration of US President Donald Trump urges NATO members to abandon Russian oil, one country's populist government stands firm. Hungary and its leader, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, have long argued Russian energy imports are indispensable for the country's economy and switching to fossil fuels sourced from elsewhere would cause an immediate economic collapse.

Orbán, who has long had the friendliest ties to the Kremlin of any EU leader, has vigorously opposed the bloc's efforts to sanction Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and blasted attempts to hit Russia's energy revenues that help finance the war. As the rest of Europe has weaned off Russian energy, Hungary has maintained, and even increased, its Russian imports, insisting no viable alternative exists.

But some energy experts - as well as Orbán's critics, who see his commitment to Russian energy as a symptom of his affinity for President Vladimir Putin - say the Hungarian leader's position is more about politics than pipelines. Hungary's leaders argue its landlocked geography in the heart of Central Europe make it dependent on Russian fossil fuels delivered by pipelines built while Hungary was under Soviet dominance.

With no alternative sources and infrastructure to bring oil and gas to Hungary, officials say, the country's economy would cease to function without Russian supplies. "If Hungary is cut off from Russian oil and natural gas, then immediately, within a minute, Hungarian economic performance will drop by 4%,” Orbán told state radio in September. "This would be catastrophic, the Hungarian economy would be on its knees.”

But László Miklós, a chemical engineer and energy industry analyst, told The Associated Press there was "no rational explanation” for Orbán's government's reluctance to seek alternative fuel sources and ample infrastructure is already in place to supply Hungary with affordable, non-Russian oil and gas. "Disconnection from Russian energy in an integrated European market should not be a problem, all conditions are there. It's the intention that is missing,” Miklós said.