EU sanctions against Russia are bad, but it’s all good when Donald Trump threatens to impose them, according to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
In an interview to state broadcaster Kossuth Radio on Friday morning, Orbán said: “The Americans don’t want sanctions, they want peace, and the Europeans want sanctions instead of peace. The Americans want peace, and one of the ways to get peace is through sanctions.”
He clarified: “They say: ‘Negotiate, but if you don’t negotiate, you may get even harsher sanctions.’ But these are two completely different schools of thought.”
After the roundabout remarks, Orbán emphasized that he does not support EU sanctions, claiming that Hungary’s economy has lost €19.5 billion over the past three years because of them as the West ostracizes Russian leader Vladimir Putin over his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Orbán also once again threatened to veto the extension of the EU sanctions, claiming that Ukraine’s decision to cut off Russian gas supplies to its territory is “unacceptable.”
But the populist-nationalist Hungarian leader has a history of performatively threatening to play his veto card when it comes to EU sanctions against Russia (member countries must agree on them unanimously) — but not yet followed through.
According to Orbán, if the European Commission fails to fulfill the energy security guarantees it promised to Budapest, he really means it this time.
“A decision on sanctions must be taken every six months. And if the Commission does not fulfill its guarantees, then we will not only start talking about lifting the sanctions, we will lift them,” Orbán said.
“One country can do that. If we really have to, Hungary can say ‘well, everyone should go home now.’ Lights off, sanctions over, everybody go home. But this is a very harsh thing, it should only be used as a last resort,” he added.
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