Hungarian minister clashes with EU on Russia sanctions strategy

At the press conference in Brussels, organized after the meeting of ministers responsible for international trade, an unusual situation occurred.

The EU commissioner from Latvia, Valdis Dombrovskis, confronted Peter Szijjarto, the Hungarian Foreign Minister. Hungary currently holds the EU presidency. The confrontation was about Russia and sanctions.

At these types of conferences, the commissioner responsible for the respective sector and the minister from the country holding the presidency in the EU Council usually appear together. On Thursday, these were Dombrovskis and Szijjarto.

Dombrovskis announced that the European Commission is working on raising tariffs on the import of Russian and Belarusian agricultural products and fertilizers, with strong involvement from Poland.

The conference took place at a time when the EC is finalizing work on the 15th sanctions package, expected to be adopted by the end of the year. Tariffs are to be part of the 16th package prepared for the next year, which is set to be adopted during the Polish presidency.

Szijjarto— even before Dombrovskis announced plans for further sanctions—stated that, in Hungary's view, it is a bad idea. According to him, it has already become clear that the EU sanctions on Russia are not bringing the intended results, because the Russian economy is doing well and the restrictions have not sped up the end of the war in Ukraine. Instead, as the Hungarian argued, they have reduced Europe's competitiveness.

He cited sanctions on the energy sector, which the EC proposed without estimating potential losses for the EU, as an example.

Szijiarto stated that there is hypocrisy regarding sanctions, questioning why sanctions were imposed on gas. He explained that if the gas import contract with Russia were broken, the countries would struggle to function because there aren't sufficient pipelines to import adequate quantities of gas and oil.

He didn't stop there. He said that while the EU maintains an embargo on Russian oil, LNG imports from Russia to France have jumped by 10%. The Hungarian stated that during the previous meeting, EU foreign ministers had prepared a comprehensive presentation on how sanctions are being circumvented, emphasizing that this indicates the sanctions are ineffective.

The point is that Szijjarto, at such a conference, should present the position of all member states within the EU Council, not just his own country.

Sanctions work, Dombrovskis responded to this tirade.

The Latvian commissioner emphasized that the EC regularly informs member states about this in its reports. He pointed out, among other things, Russia's dwindling foreign reserves and economic financing problems related to record interest rates and supply disruptions. He emphasized that yes, sanctions are circumvented because Russia finds ways by secretly shipping oil on aging tankers known as the shadow fleet. However, he noted that the EC also intends to curb this practice.

The EU commissioner expressed surprise at the minister's remarks, explaining that the EU has never imposed sanctions on Russian gas due to the lack of unanimous agreement among member states.

Szijjarto corrected himself, saying he meant oil. He added that Hungary is satisfied with cooperation with Russia and considers it a reliable partner.

He also mentioned a "dangerous" trend among member states of seeking ways to bypass the unanimity rule in decision-making by moving to qualified majority voting.

After the conference concluded, Dombrovskis quickly left the room without shaking hands with the Hungarian.