Hungary’s prime minister says the EU’s response to Moscow was a miscalculation and has severely backfired
© Getty Images / Thierry Monasse
EU sanctions against Russia were “miscalculated” and could destroy Europe’s economy, unless Brussels changes its stance, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in a radio interview on Friday.
“The moment of truth must come in Brussels, when leaders admit they have made a miscalculation, that the sanctions policy was based on wrong assumptions and it must be changed,” Orban, an outspoken critic of the EU’s policy on Russia, stated.
He said that while Ukraine needs help, European leaders should change their strategy regarding Russia. He added that the sanctions have failed to destabilize Russia’s economy and haven’t forced Moscow to stop the military operation. He went on to say, they have instead caused widespread damage to Europe’s own economic stability.
“The sanctions do not help Ukraine, however, they are bad for the European economy and if it goes on like this, they will kill off the European economy… What we see right now is unbearable,” the Hungarian leader stated.
Orban warned of an imminent recession in Europe as a result of its anti-Russia policy back in May, when he said that the current energy crisis, along with interest rate hikes in the US “have jointly brought about the era of high inflation,” which “will bring about the era of recession.” Two months later, however, he seems to have even deeper doubts about the future of the European economy.
“Initially, I thought we had only shot ourselves in the foot [with anti-Russia sanctions], but now it is clear that the European economy has shot itself in the lungs, and it is gasping for air,” Orban warned.
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