Hungary pays Russia rubles for gas and oil
Hungary is one of the countries within the European Union that is forced to pay for Russian gas and oil through the payment arrangement imposed by Moscow. Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó told CNN†
“85 percent of our gas supply comes from Russia, and 65 percent of our oil supply comes from Russia,” said Szijjártó. “This is not for fun, we did not choose the situation.” According to the minister, there are currently no alternative sources or energy routes for Hungary to move away from Russian gas and oil within a few years.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced last month that “unfriendly countries” would have to pay for gas with Russian rubles. Many European countries refuse to do so, including Poland and Bulgaria. On Wednesday, Russia announced that it would turn off the gas to these two countries. Later in the day, Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov announced that similar steps could be taken for other European countries.
More than 25,000 Ukrainians to the Netherlands in the first quarter
Three in ten immigrants who came to the Netherlands in the first quarter of 2022 were Ukrainians. It turns out from figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics. This concerns a total of more than 25,000 migrants from Ukraine, the vast majority of whom are probably war refugees.
In total, approximately 87,600 thousand immigrants came to the Netherlands in the first quarter of this year. 35,000 migrants moved, as a result of which the Netherlands gained about 52,600 inhabitants through foreign migration. By way of comparison: in the same period last year, the Netherlands gained about 15,600 inhabitants as a result of foreign migration. In addition to migrants from Ukraine, many migrants from Syria, Turkey and Asian countries joined.
As a result of this migration, the Dutch population grew by at least 49,800 inhabitants. The natural growth rate was negative: nearly 3,000 more people died in the first quarter of 2022 than babies were born. Negative natural growth is common during this period, because normally more people die and fewer births take place in the winter.