PM Orbán vetoes the extension of anti-Putin sanctions – UPDATE
As expected, the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, has pulled the handbrake and vetoed the extension of anti-Putin sanctions. He claimed that the sanctions introduced by the EU to weaken Putin’s war machine have had a devastating effect on Hungary, resulting in a loss of €19 billion. Orbán also outlined three conditions that Ukraine must meet if Kyiv seeks his support for the sanctions’ extension.
Orbán vetoes the prolongation of anti-Putin sanctions
According to politico.eu, diplomats in Brussels believe that the Hungarian Prime Minister may change his stance. However, today, he vetoed the extension of the EU sanctions against Putin. The extension requires unanimity in Brussels; without Hungary’s agreement, Putin may now gain access to Russia’s frozen assets worth $200 billion, currently held by a Belgian asset manager. This could enable him to resume trading activities as before the invasion of Ukraine.
In a morning radio interview, Orbán mentioned three demands in exchange for his approval. “We’re asking Brussels to persuade the Ukrainians to restore the gas route, and we ask that they refrain from attacking, through semi-legal and legal military means, the route through which we import gas,” the Prime Minister stated. He also called for guarantees from Ukraine to ensure that it does not repeat “the underhanded actions they are currently taking with gas” in relation to oil deliveries.
Orbán further suggested that the EU should wait for the outcome of the US presidential election before deciding on extending the sanctions. Yesterday, former President Donald Trump stated that if Putin does not end the war in Ukraine, he would impose further sanctions on Russia. “I hope that the government of Hungary has understood the message from the President of the United States,” Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski remarked on Thursday.
The next vote on the reauthorisation of the sanctions is scheduled for Monday.
EU pressing for ‘failed sanctions’, FM Szijjártó said
The European Union is “pressing for a failed sanctions policy’ against Russia, one which has caused the Hungarian economy damages worth a total 7,500 billion forints (EUR 19bn), the minister of foreign affairs and trade said in Paris on Friday.
The foreign ministry quoted Péter Szijjártó as saying after meeting the general secretary of OECD that Hungary had a vested interest in ensuring smooth operations within the global economy. He said Europe’s sanction policies were “fundamentally conflicting” with Hungary’s interests, and they “could not at all promote the goals the EU wanted to reach”.
“The sanctions have not brought peace closer, nor have they forced the Russian economy to kneel down; just the opposite, they have caused huge damages to the economies of European countries,” Szijjártó said, adding that maintaining the sanctions could cause damages to the Hungarian economy “to the tune of many thousands of billions of forints”.
Meanwhile, Szijjártó said that “Ukraine is constantly taking it out on Hungary” as Ukraine’s recent energy measures seriously impact Hungary’s energy security and contribute to rising energy prices.
“Ukraine has caused a gas price hike in the whole of central Europe by terminating natural gas transits,” he said, and noted earlier restrictions of oil deliveries as well as attacks on the TurkStream gas pipeline, which “currently guarantees Hungary’s energy security in terms of gas”. “It will not do that Hungarian people pay for the price of the sanctions, and suffer from Ukraine’s measures undermining energy security … it cannot go on like that,” Szijjártó said.
Furthermore, “the European Commission cannot go on promoting Ukraine’s interests against the EU’s central European members,” he added. “We must put on the handbrake and make it clear that the EU must not pursue a sanctions policy harming the Hungarian economy and overlook Ukraine’s measures undermining central Europe’s energy security,” he said. The Hungarian government wants “clear answers and guarantees … so that it can take a responsible decision at Monday’s foreign ministerial council meeting”, Szijjártó said.
UPDATE
Orbán cabinet imposes new condition in exchange for Russia sanctions – UPDATE with votes
Read also: