Hungary exempted from new Russian sanctions: Putin’s gesture or something else?

International media write little about the Russian sanctions introduced against the European Union or NATO member countries, including Hungary. However, the Kremlin decided to exempt Hungary from the last round of sanctions concerning cosmetic products. Has Hungary become a friendly country for Putin, or is there another explanation for the exemption?

According to Telex, Russia imposed new sanctions on unfriendly countries and states characterised as hostile by the Kremlin. The sanctions became effective on 29 April and will remain valid until at least 31 December. Russia’s new sanctions package concerns cosmetics products and imposes a 35% tariff on “hostile” countries. However, three countries that are “part of the Western world” were exempted: Slovakia, South Korea and Hungary. Italy and France also received distinct handling, the tariff was set to 20% on French and Italian products.

Telex called Hungary’s exemption interesting. The 4-page-long declaration, only readable in Russia (Telex received its full text), says that the target of the sanctions is countries that harm Russia’s economic interests.

Informants and experts of the Hungarian media outlet believe the exemption must be Putin’s gesture towards Hungary and Slovakia, since trade with those countries in the cosmetics segment is minimal. Meanwhile, trade with France, Italy and South Korea is considerable.

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