Political analyst: EU should not allow Orbán to weaken all its sanctions against Russia
Leading political analyst Anders Aslund, an expert in the field, believes that the European Union has good reason to impose sanctions against Russia’s Rosatom. However, the Russian company is still not included in the latest EU package of sanctions. For this, he condemns Hungary, saying that it was the country’s fault that the sanction plan went unmet.
Previous events
As rtl.hu reports, Russia often circumvents sanctions by purchasing products from third-world countries. Secretary of State for Political Affairs of the United States Victoria Nuland recently addressed this issue. According to her, Russia is becoming increasingly crafty at circumventing these sanctions. It imports devices from third-world manufacturers, the parts of which the country can use for its military equipment.
For this reason, as officially announced by Brussels on Thursday, the 10th package of sanctions would introduce an export ban worth EUR 11 billion on critical technologies and industrial supplies. An important part of the sanctions package is the ban on exports of a number of industrial items that Russia cannot obtain from third-world countries.
- Read also: Leading Ukrainian politician banned from Schengen Area at request of Hungarian government
Sanctions on Russian nuclear energy
The original plan was to include Russia’s nuclear sector in the sanctions proposal. This has now not been implemented, and the latest package of sanctions does not include any nuclear-related measures. Earlier, mfor.hu drew attention to the comments of Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Péter Szijjártó on the EU’s proposals to restrict nuclear cooperation. Szijjártó had earlier said that they would do their utmost to ensure the Russian nuclear sector would not be part of the next sanctions package.
Aslaund’s reaction
As rtl.hu spotted, Anders Aslaund made the following remark on Twitter:
Apparently, the EU has decided not to sanction Rosatom, Russia’s state-owned Atomic Energy Corporation because of Hungarian veto since Viktor Orban works with Rosatom in a dubious way.
The EU cannot allow Orban to dilute all its Russia sanctions. Something must be done!— Anders Åslund (@anders_aslund) February 17, 2023
Aslaund argues that there are several reasons to sanction Rosatom. In his Twitter post, he lists 5 reasons. Among them, he writes that Rosatom is considered to be a major armaments company. He also believes that the fact Rosatom can easily become a vehicle for corruption is another significant reason for sanctions. He argues that the Russian company has secret bilateral agreements with countries such as Hungary. In addition, the company is financed by the Putin-controlled VEB.
Aslaund concludes that sanctions against Rosatom should be taken as soon as possible. According to the expert, this would also do a lot against Orbán, as it would keep the money from his corruption scheme. The best way to deal with Hungary is to use Article 7 of the Treaty on the European Union. The article sets out EU action against member states that seriously infringe fundamental EU values.
Rtl.hu adds that the European Parliament already voted in favour of the report last year, which stated that the fundamental values of the EU are at risk in Hungary. The European Commission then decided to freeze billions of euros in EU funding. More details on this case can be read HERE.
Read alsoAnalysing Orbán’s possible Huxit: geopolitical expert weighs in
Source: rtl.hu, mfor.hu
4 Comments
Look, good luck to Ukraine. I hope it prevails and sends the Russians with a bloody nose and their tail between their legs back to where they came from. But that should not, MUST NOT, happen at our expense. I am not willing to eat dried crickets, shiver in my home, and take cold showers because I can’t afford the exorbitant prices of food and energy due to the idiocy of our political “leaders.” These “leaders” relied for a huge portion of our energy needs on a country that was at best lukewarm toward us and often downright hostile. Our “leaders” also shut down coal power plants, banned fracking, and discontinued oil extraction. They shunned the cleanest form of energy: nuclear. At the same time, they slavishly wasted our money on the lunacy of the inefficient, unreliable, and expensive “renewable” “green” nonsense. Now, when our relations with Russia imploded, as was inevitable, we lost that source of energy and we do not have another. Those who made these decisions over the years should be in prison for life, because they did it either through gross negligence or deliberate treason. One thing is for sure though: We, ordinary citizens, MUST NOT SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!
Some fun facts: Hungary submitted its National Energy and Climate Plan to the EU in 2018:
https://energy.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2019-03/ec_courtesy_translation_hu_necp_0.pdf
The Commission helpfully reverted with a recommendation in 2019 – you will find all the usual points addressed in detail:
https://energy.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2019-06/hu_swd_en_0.pdf
So – now for the BIG question, since we have it all in writing … Who was asleep at the wheel? Brussels Bureaucrats? The Liberal Elite? Soros lapdogs? Hm.
Hungary should not approve any sanctions that make no sense or sanctions that are harmful for Hungarian economy.
Folks, we just had a lesson in showing us, what happens when we put all our eggs (Russian energy) in one basket.