Hungary FM: We Will Block It on Monday

Hungary will vote against extending the EU sanctions imposed on Russian and Belarusian individuals, the foreign minister announced. Peter Szijjarto justified the decision by stating that time must be given to Russia–U.S. negotiations and that the European Commission broke a key promise made to Hungary.

Peter Szijjarto, Hungary's Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister (Photo: MTI/Noemi Bruzak)

There will be a Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels on Monday, and Hungary is already under significant pressure to agree to extend the sanctions regime—affecting roughly 2,500 Russian and Belarusian individuals—by another six months, Szijjarto said in a video message on social media.

Peter Szijjarto, Hungary's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Photo: MTI/Zsolt Czegledi)

Europe’s pro-war politicians are rushing ahead, trying to hinder peace efforts. We will not agree to extend the sanctions against individuals on Monday,

the minister emphasized.

Szijjarto stressed the importance of allowing time for Russia–U.S. negotiations to succeed.

Hungary also refuses to support the extension because the European Commission has already breached one of its guarantees related to Hungarian energy security.

One of the four points they committed to was that discussions on restarting Ukrainian natural gas transit would include Hungary, Ukraine, Slovakia, and the European Commission. Despite our requests, we were not invited to these talks. Only the Slovaks and Ukrainians were included, thus breaking one of the four promised guarantees. Therefore, we will not agree to extend the sanctions regime on individuals on Monday,

the foreign minister concluded.

Cover Photo: Peter Szijjarto, Hungary's Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister (Photo: MTI/Noemi Bruzak)