Pro-government think tank: EU sanctions unlikely to stop Russian attacks on Ukraine

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has successfully enforced Hungary’s interests in Brussels, a senior analyst of the Twenty-First Century Institute said on Tuesday, noting that the European Commission’s original proposal for an oil embargo failed to pass, while the approved sanctions package exempts crude oil delivered via pipelines.

Dániel Deák said Hungary will be able to maintain the price cap on utility fees and petrol, and Hungarians would not have to pay the price of the Ukraine-Russia war. Other countries in the region will also benefit from the exemption, he added.

The analyst said

the EU’s original sanctions plan would have caused unemployment, disruptions to supplies, a food crisis, and further soaring inflation, he added.

Deák said that the Hungarian government’s approach was pragmatic and protected the interests of the Hungarian nation as well as those of the rest of Europe, he added.

The introduction of the oil embargo at the end of this year, he said, was unlikely to stop Russian attacks against Ukraine since the Russian economy had “sufficient reserves for several years” and Russia could sell crude oil and gas to other countries such as China.

He said Orbán had maintained a coherent position from the start of the war, namely that he did not want Hungarian people to pay the price of the war.

As we wrote today, here is Orbán’s reaction to the latest EU sanctions package, details HERE.

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