Long reputed to be Russia-friendly, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has often railed against the continuation of the EU sanctions, claiming that they impose an intolerable burden on the Hungarian economy and provide no solution for the carnage in Ukraine.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban threatened on Friday to block the next rollover of EU sanctions against Russia unless Brussels helps achieve a restart of Russian gas transit via Ukraine, which was halted on Jan.

The ongoing conflict has highlighted the importance of diversifying gas supplies to build resilience against geopolitical risks

Václav Bartuška, the Czech Foreign Ministry's Special Envoy for Energy Security, explained this statement. "For the Czech Republic and Europe in general, this does not matter fundamentally," he said.