Orban estimated Hungary’s losses from anti-Russian sanctions at 10 billion euros per year

Hungary loses about 10 billion euros a year due to EU sanctions against Russia. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced this on the air of Kossuth radio station.

“As a result of the sanctions, Hungary will lose 3,764 billion forints (about 10 billion euros) in the form of failed economic growth,” he said (quote according to TASS).

Orbán specified that Hungarian citizens pay almost the same amount in total as income tax. He stressed that Budapest still stands for the revision of sanctions against the Russian Federation.

Now new sanctions are being developed in the EU, Orban added. According to him, nuclear power is on the agenda. The prime minister announced that Hungary would veto initiatives affecting Russian nuclear power organizations and enterprises.

January 13 Reuters reportedthat Poland and Lithuania want to achieve an expansion of sanctions against the Russian Federation within the tenth package on the Russian nuclear sector. In particular, it is proposed to introduce restrictions against Rosatom, the sources said.

Earlier, the Hungarian authorities have repeatedly criticized the EU sanctions imposed on Russia. In particular, the head of the country’s Foreign Ministry, Peter Szijjarto, said that “the sanctions have failed” and pointed to economic problems in Europe. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban also declared about the inefficiency of the restrictions. In December 2022 he urged The EU should revise its sanctions policy against the Russian Federation, explaining that Europe and the United States pay different prices for the consequences of the conflict in Ukraine.

However, already in January 2023, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced the tenth package of sanctions against Russia. In Hungary, the expansion of restrictive measures also did not support.