Media: EU not ruling out Hungary's blocking sanctions against Russia

Euractiv, citing unnamed European diplomats, has reported that the European Union has not ruled out that Hungary may block the extension of sanctions against Russia this week, as they are set to expire on 15 March.

As reported by EU-focused news and analysis website Euractiv, some EU diplomats were surprised that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán had not taken any action to oppose the conclusions of the extraordinary European Council meeting on 6 March regarding support for Ukraine.

As a result, the conclusions were signed by the leaders of 26 EU member states, while Orbán did not put his signature to them.

Those present in the meeting room revealed that Orbán also did not raise any contentious issues regarding Russia.

Diplomats believe that the Hungarian prime minister exercised restraint against the background of the need to extend sanctions against Russia, which are renewed every six months and are set to expire on 15 March.

Bypassing Budapest will not be possible this time, as sanctions require the unanimous approval of all 27 EU countries.

This gives Orbán significantly more leverage to demand concessions, the report notes.

The EU’s restrictive measures target individuals, companies and other entities involved in undermining Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence.

The EU sanctions list currently includes more than 2,400 individuals and legal entities.

In recent weeks, Hungary has stated that it is seeking to remove eight individuals from the EU sanctions list against Russia and to secure new concessions in negotiations with Ukraine on gas transit.

Since US President Donald Trump has been sending numerous signals that Washington might lift sanctions on Russia as part of its push for a peace settlement, Budapest is likely to push back more forcefully against EU sanctions on Russia, Euractiv notes.

This week, EU ambassadors have three opportunities to secure the extension of the sanctions package – on Monday, Wednesday or Friday.

Recently, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó pledged to oppose the renewal of EU sanctions against more than 2,400 individuals and organisations, including Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Hungary’s top diplomat urged the EU to wait for the outcome of negotiations between the US and Russia on ending the war in Ukraine.