“The European Union faced another potential confrontation with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán over his refusal to sign an extension of sanctions against Russia over its war against Ukraine, Bloomberg writes. EU ambassadors will hold several meetings in the coming days to see if they can speed up the renewal process, which has so far been a routine discussion but requires unanimous support from the bloc’s 27 member states. Several diplomats said there is currently no plan B for extending the sanctions if Orbán continues to block them. “The decision to extend the sanctions is still on the agenda of the meeting of EU ambassadors in Brussels on Friday. But the key thing is what the Hungarian government will decide today,” Rikard Yuzvyak, Radio Liberty’s European affairs editor, wrote on X’s social network. If the bloc’s diplomats cannot agree on a postponement this week, the matter will be brought before EU foreign ministers, who are due to meet in Brussels on January 27. He suggested earlier that Hungary was unlikely to block a six-month extension of economic sanctions against Russia, as the new US administration appeared to favor keeping the sanctions in place. However, on January 21, Viktor Orbán criticized the bloc’s sanctions regime, which must be renewed every six months and expires on January 31, saying 15 rounds of sanctions were damaging the European economy and “it’s time for a change.” He insists that the European sanctions did not end the war, but paralyzed the economy of the Russian Federation.”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
EU ambassadors will hold several meetings in the coming days to see if they can speed up the renewal process, which has so far been a routine discussion but requires unanimous support from the bloc’s 27 member states. Several diplomats said there is currently no plan B for extending the sanctions if Orbán continues to block them.
“The decision to extend the sanctions is still on the agenda of the meeting of EU ambassadors in Brussels on Friday. But the key thing is what the Hungarian government will decide today,” Rikard Yuzvyak, Radio Liberty’s European affairs editor, wrote on X’s social network.
If the bloc’s diplomats cannot agree on a postponement this week, the matter will be brought before EU foreign ministers, who are due to meet in Brussels on January 27.
However, on January 21, Viktor Orbán criticized the bloc’s sanctions regime, which must be renewed every six months and expires on January 31, saying 15 rounds of sanctions were damaging the European economy and “it’s time for a change.”
He insists that the European sanctions did not end the war, but paralyzed the economy of the Russian Federation.