RT-Engels: 22-01-2025,
Hungarian PM Viktor Orban has reportedly resisted the extension of the measures for economic reasons
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban is blocking the extension of sanctions the European Union imposed on Russia over the Ukraine conflict, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. The penalties, set to expire on January 31, require unanimous approval from the bloc’s 27 member states every six months.
No alternative plan currently exists to extend the sanctions if Hungary continues its protest, the publication has said, citing several unnamed diplomats.
Orban is a frequent critic of the EU’s sanctions regime. He reiterated on Tuesday his position that the fifteen rounds of restrictions imposed on Moscow are causing more harm to the bloc’s economies.
“It is time to throw sanctions out the window,” he said in an interview with Kossuth Radio last Friday, adding that the goal for the EU in 2025 should be to “establish a sanction-free relationship with Russia.”
The bloc’s ambassadors will hold multiple meetings this week to break the deadlock, Bloomberg said. If they fail, the issue will be escalated to its foreign ministers, according to the article. They are set to meet on January 27 in Brussels, just days before the sanctions are due to expire.
According to a Bloomberg report in December, Orban surprised his counterparts at an EU summit by stating he was not ready to support the extension of sanctions until US President Donald Trump assumed office.