Hungary’s premier calls for lifting EU sanctions on Russia by end of this year

By Agnes Szucs

BRUSSELS (AA) - The Hungarian prime minister has called for lifting EU sanctions on Russia by the end of this year, saying restrictive measures cause inflation and economic crisis, local media reported on late Wednesday.

Speaking at a meeting of the Hungarian governing party in Balatonalmadi, Viktor Orban called on all members of the Fidesz party to “do everything possible to make the EU withdraw sanctions (against Russia) by the end of the year,” according to the Magyar Nemzet daily.

According to Orban, Brussels-based EU officials “forced” the sanctions on Europe earlier this year, turning a “local conflict” into a “global economic war."

The sanctions ended up causing economic problems, including energy crisis and inflation, he further said.

If sanctions were lifted, the inflation would drop by 50%, the prime minister added.

Orban's speech implies that Hungary might block the adoption of a new EU sanction package that EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced on Thursday following an extraordinary meeting of EU top diplomats on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Without revealing details, Borrell confirmed that the EU prepares new economic measures against Moscow and will increase its military support to Ukraine in response to the partial mobilization in Russia.

EU ambassadors are expected to discuss the proposal on Friday.

Since the beginning of Russia’s war on Ukraine, the bloc has provided a total of €2.5 billion ($2.5 billion) in military aid, including lethal weapons, as well as personal protective gear, first aid kits, and fuel.

It has also imposed seven sanctions packages, targeting, among others, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, banning gold, oil, and coal imports, and the export of luxury goods and high-tech technology, as well as excluding Russian and Belarusian banks from the international payment system SWIFT.

In the spring, Hungary blocked for weeks the adoption of the sixth sanctions package because of its prohibition of Russian oil imports.

As a compromise, the country was given an exception for pipeline oil imports, but it nevertheless vetoed imposing sanctions of travel ban and asset freeze against the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill.