BUDAPEST, January 24. /TASS/. EU sanctions against Russia can be prolonged only if Ukraine restores Russian gas transit to Central Europe, stops attacks on the TurkStream pipeline, and provides guarantees for continued oil transit, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in an interview with Kossuth radio.
He noted that he had told other EU leaders that "if Ukraine wants to receive assistance, including sanctions against Russia", it must meet three conditions: restore gas transit, "not use military means to attack" the TurkStream gas pipeline, and not impose a ban on Russian oil supplies to Europe through its territory. Orban warned that "otherwise the sanctions, a decision on which must be made in a week, will not be extended".
"It turns out that we are paying for aid to Ukraine, and they are hindering us with their actions. Things will not work this way," the head of government noted, complaining that Kiev’s decisions have led to a further increase in energy prices on the European market. "If Ukraine had not interfered in our affairs, there would not be such energy prices here and gasoline would not be so expensive," Orban added.
Orban also added that EU sanctions against Russia are harming Europe -Hungary alone has lost about 19 bln euro due to them, so EU leaders should consider whether to continue this policy.
He reminded that the EU has to decide by January 31 whether to prolong the sanctions against Russia imposed over the conflict in Ukraine for another six months. "If we look at the figures for the last three years, we will see that Hungary has lost about 19 bln euro due to the sanctions," he said.
"Now the question of extending the sanctions is on the table, but I pulled the handbrake and told other European leaders that this cannot go on any longer,"Orban noted.
He believes that the EU should carefully reconsider whether it should stick to a sanctions policy that has failed to achieve its goal and has only harmed the EU countries themselves.