PRAGUE, Oct 7 – Novosti. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has urged EU countries to reconsider misguided policies as Europe, he says, is “slowly bleeding” over anti-Russian sanctions.
“The sanctions have not justified the hopes placed on them… Europe is slowly bleeding out, while Russia is earning good money in the meantime. It is clear that the erroneous sanctions policy of Brussels must be changed!” he wrote on social media.
In a video message delivered during an informal EU summit, Orban noted that the meeting is discussing difficult questions: whether European countries will have gas and electricity in the coming months.
“Hungary has previously won exemption from the oil embargo and sanctions, and in recent days we have also managed to ensure that new sanctions do not apply to either Hungarian nuclear energy or gas supplies to Hungary, but the sanctions have skyrocketed energy prices, this also affects Hungary, the prices are almost impossible to pay,” the prime minister said.
The first meeting of the leaders of the European Political Community takes place on Thursday in Prague with the participation of the heads of state of the European Union and non-EU countries. The leaders of 27 EU member states, the countries of the Western Balkans, Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Great Britain, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan are invited to the summit. The main topics of the meeting will be the situation in Ukraine, the energy crisis and the economy.
The Hungarian prime minister constantly criticizes the EU for its anti-Russian policy. He noted that there are thousands of sanctions against Russia, but they have not shaken Moscow, while Europe has already lost four governments and is in a deep economic and political crisis. In addition, according to Orban, the EU countries missed the chance to mediate in the conflict in Ukraine, because they could not ensure the implementation of the Minsk agreements.
After the start of the Russian special operation to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine, the West stepped up sanctions pressure on Moscow: hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Russian assets were frozen, the European Union has already adopted eight packages of restrictive measures, including an embargo on coal and limiting oil prices.
The Kremlin called these measures an economic war. As Vladimir Putin noted , the policy of containing and weakening Russia is a long-term strategy for the West, but the sanctions have dealt a serious blow to the entire global economy. The population of European countries has already faced a significant rise in the price of food, fuel and electricity, and the authorities are forced to introduce austerity measures due to the energy crisis.
