Hungarian FM rules out blocking new EU sanctions against Russia, but calls Brussels’ policy “crazy”

Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has stated that Hungary would not block the 19th sanctions package, perhaps with an eye on the upcoming meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in Budapest.

“We don’t have such a plan to block it. “We managed to take out all those measures which would have gone against our national interest,” Euractiv quotes him as saying during EU Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg on October 20.

Asked by Euractiv whether he contributed to the discussion on the next round of sanctions on Russia, Szijjártó said: “I don’t contribute to crazy things,” arguing that the EU’s sanctions policy has failed because Russia’s war on Ukraine continues.

Hungary, which is contracted to import Russian gas through to 2036, is considering legal action against an EU ban enforced through the Brussels’ executive sweeping trade powers, the country’s foreign minister said in Luxembourg.

Besides, a package of sanctions, including the EU's phased withdrawal from purchases of Russian liquefied natural gas by January 2027, still cannot be agreed upon due to Slovakia's position. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico links his blockage to the EU’s policy of phasing out combustion-engine cars and is expected to seek concessions in return for his assent.

Discussions on adopting a new set of anti-Russian restrictions, which have been in preparation since September, are expected to continue at the EU summit on October 23 and 24.

Evening before the summit, EU diplomacy chief Kaja Kallas stated that the 19th sanctions package would not be the last and that EU countries need to work on the next one. However, this step is met with skepticism in some countries. 

By Khagan Isayev