EU should end sanctions against Russia: Hungary PM
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The Hungarian Prime Minister says if the EU's anti-Russian sanctions are lifted, energy prices and inflation would fall in half.
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Hungarian PM Viktor Orban speaking during a meeting in London on March 8 (LEON NEAL/AFP)
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban stressed on Friday that the European Union's sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine war are a mistake and should be ended.
Speaking to Hungarian state radio, Orban considered that if the anti-Russian sanctions are lifted, energy prices and inflation would fall in half, adding that a political decision must be taken by the EU in this regard.
"It is certain that America won the war and Europe lost. There’s a debate over whether Russia won or lost. If we talk in terms of money, we can’t say that Russia lost too much,'' the Hungarian Prime Minister pointed out.
Orban argued that his country lacks the power to end the sanctions on Russia on its own and that big states such as Germany or France could.
The Hungarian leader had said that the Western sanctions were unsuccessful in destabilizing Russia and dealt a substantial blow to Europe itself.
In mid-November, Orban warned that European economies are rapidly heading toward recession and that Europe "doesn’t have the will to determine its own foreign policy" because it follows the US’ lead.
"I personally think that an economic crisis which will last for years awaits us," he said, pointing out that by arming and training Ukrainian soldiers on European soil, Europe is escalating the crisis.
Orban said the EU's "very strict" sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine war "made the situation worse."
"We thought it would weaken Russia, we thought it would force them to make peace. However, these sanctions had the opposite result," he added.
US ultimate beneficiary of recession in EU
In the same context, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told reporters in late November that the US is profiting from the dire economic situation in Europe as it heads further and faster toward a recession
"The fact that Europe's economy is moving toward recession is good news for the US economy and it seems so that America has been able to get profit from it," Szijjarto told journalists.
Work on 10th anti-Russia package of sanctions underway: Polish envoy
This comes as Polish Ambassador to the EU, Andrzej Sados, claimed on Thursday that the EU is intensifying its work on the 10th sanctions package against Russia, with Poland proposing the imposition of new measures and strengthening existing ones.
"The work has really been accelerated. Poland as a member of a group of like-minded countries is making proposals on new sanctions. Tightening up existing restrictions is also a constant process," Sados said, as quoted by the Polish news agency PAP.
It is reported that the new package of sanctions aims to expand the list of sanctioned individuals and organizations and add diamonds to the list of sanctioned Russian exports. Additionally, the new package of sanctions would be expected to also target Belarus.
