Orbán demands oil like a Liepāja resident on a winter morning - by any means necessary

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán yesterday announced that he is using all means to restore Russian oil transit through Ukraine. Such behavior has been familiar in Liepāja for years - when someone really wants to get something, they start blocking everything else until the other side gives in.

While Riga is still trying to understand what diplomatic pressure formation is, Orbán is already demonstrating the classic Liepāja approach - if you don't give me what I want, then you won't get what you need either. He has halted gasoline and diesel fuel deliveries to Ukraine, threatens to cut off electricity, and additionally blocks 40 million dollars and nine kilograms of gold.

Local energy expert Valdis Krauklis comments: "Using such tactics reminds me of Lake Liepāja - seemingly quiet and peaceful, but if someone tries to take too much, then such processes begin that it's better to go to the sea, where at least the storms are honest." Krauklis adds that such behavior usually ends with both sides being left without what they wanted.

Meanwhile in Brussels, diplomats are trying to understand why Orbán is blocking a 90 billion euro loan to Ukraine and new sanctions on Russia. The answer is simple - if he doesn't get his oil, then no one else gets their money either. In Liepāja, such logic is called "either everyone's happy, or no one is".