BUDAPEST, July 27. /TASS/. The Russian economy has shown flexibility and adapted to the EU sanctions, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.

"The country's economic vitality is outstanding. There is no question about it. Russia has learned its lessons from the sanctions" that were imposed following Crimea’s reunification with Russia in 2014, he said, according to the Magyar Nemzet newspaper. "They have the necessary equipment and flexibility. They have developed the ability to adapt," he went on to say in a speech in Romania.

"Russia is different from how we saw it and how we were made to see it. <...> Russia is described as a harsh neo-Stalinist country. This image has no basis in reality," the prime minister said.

Orban also said EU sanctions "harm fundamental European interests, raise energy prices and make the European economy uncompetitive."

The European Union approved the latest 14th package of anti-Russian sanctions on June 24, 2024.