Orban Obtains a Reprieve on Russian Oil Sanctions.

Last week, during a meeting with President Trump, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán successfully secured an exemption from sanctions regarding the purchase of Russian oil. According to a report in Sky News, Orban made the argument that, as Hungary is a landlocked country, the easiest method for them to get oil and natural gas is through the Turkstream and Druzhba pipelines, respectively.  Despite the Trump administration instituting sanctions on two major Russian oil companies, Lukoil and Rosneft, it is no surprise that he was willing to help a fellow right-wing populist, Orban. Orban will also be grateful for this show of support because he is facing a fierce challenge in next year’s election in the form of upstart opposition candidate Peter Magyar. Finally, considering that Hungary is about to purchase U.S Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) with the contracts being estimated at around $600 million, someone will surely “benefit” from this transaction.