It is time to abandon sanctions and mend ties with Russia, Orbán says
Pravda Ukraine
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has urged Brussels to lift sanctions and mend ties with Russia. He has also commended Hungary’s performance during the previous EU presidency.
Source: European Pravda, citing Orbán in an interview with Hungarian news portal Telex
Details: Orbán claimed that Hungary’s primary goal during its six-month EU presidency was to bring peace to the forefront of discussions. He emphasised that “significant progress has been made,” noting that “everyone is now talking about peace.”
“It’s high time we threw sanctions out the window and established sanctions-free relations with Russia,” he said.
The Hungarian prime minister believes it may take time, but Brussels will eventually “sober up,” as he described them as currently going on a “binge”.
Orbán stated that peace is essential to achieving Hungary’s economic policy goals, adding that “we will then need to deal with Ukraine, which we currently view only through the ‘lens of war’.”
He claimed that Ukraine poses a serious economic threat to Europe and vowed to implement stringent protective measures to safeguard, among other things, the Hungarian and Polish agricultural sectors.
“We’re talking about a country that can’t stand on its own two feet and today, without Western money, it’s not a country,” Orbán added.
Background:
- This week, reports emerged that the EU is preparing new sanctions against Russia, designed to bypass vetoes from Hungary and Slovakia.
- On 16 January, Hungarian Minister for EU Affairs János Bóka stated that Budapest believes the EU should defer decisions on extending sanctions against Russia until after consultations with the new US administration.
- The Financial Times reported that EU officials are exploring additional measures, including the application of an 81-year-old law involving the Belgian king, to safeguard sanctions against Russia following Hungary’s threat to veto their extension.
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