Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Friday that his country will not support the European Union’s proposal to ban Russian oil imports.

The EU announced plans Wednesday to place an embargo on Russian oil imports in the next six months and refined products before the end of 2022. Orban, during an interview with Hungary’s Kossuth Radio on Friday, said that the proposal “is an atomic bomb they want to drop on the Hungarian economy."

He noted that the ban would drive up prices of petrol and diesel, and that Hungary needs years to change its energy infrastructure to be less reliant on Russia.

"We know exactly what we need — first of all we need five years for this whole process to be completed ... 1 to 1 1/2 years is not enough for anything," Orban said, according to Reuters.

"They have crossed this red line; coal may not affect Hungary. But they just keep coming. You have to stop here,” Orban said, adding that Hungary has to be able to veto proposals made by the European Commission "because otherwise, we would lose all our friends in the EU.” 

He said, "I don't want to confront the EU but to cooperate ... but this is only possible if they take our interests into account."

When asked which side he is on when with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Orban, who has historically aligned himself with Russian President Vladimir Putin, said: "In such cases, the countries choose a side, but my perception, based on historical experience, is that one should not choose a side, but a position that is in Hungary's interests. We have such a position, peace."

• Report: Hungary 'Will Never Support' Sanctions That Restrict Russian Energy Imports
• EU Energy Ministers Meet to Discuss Russian Gas, Sanctions