Orbán cabinet’s anti-sanctions policy to be reflected in ‘Natl Consultation’ survey

The Hungarian government will soon launch a seven-question “National Consultation” public survey on the European Union sanctions against Russia, which will feature a question on sanctions against gas, a state secretary of the Prime Minister’s Office said on Monday.

Csaba Dömötör said in a video on Facebook that the European Union had “gradually overridden” the agreement that sanctions against Russia would not hit energy resources, an agreement reached among member states at the beginning of the war. It has already adopted sanctions on oil deliveries and “wants to extend the restrictions to gas too”, he said.

Energy prices which started increasing after the war had started in February shot up in June after the sanctions were adopted, he said. European companies are forced to cut back or stop production, inflation is growing, and so are utility prices, Dömötör said.

The government is of the view that sanctions will ruin the economy, and urge a swift change of course, he said. “If many of us stand by this view, we can achieve that, and so we encourage everyone to participate in the National Consultation survey,” he said.

The government approved the Fidesz parliamentary group’s proposal to launch a “National Consultation” public survey last week.