BUDAPEST, December 4. /TASS/. Hungary, unlike other EU countries, realized early on that sanctions against Russia were not producing results, Russian Ambassador to Hungary Evgeny Stanislavov said in a conversation with TASS.
"In Hungary, perhaps earlier than in many other European countries, they realized that sanctions against Russia were not having the desired result, but, on the contrary, harming their initiators. Moscow warned about this from the very beginning, but the Europeans did not believe us. Now this is becoming obvious to everyone, but European capitals cannot yet abandon the sanctions regime," the diplomat said.
He recalled that due to reduced ties with Russia, the economy of the entire European Union is suffering significant losses. According to the Financial Times, the losses of the largest European companies over the past year and a half - even without taking into account the increased cost of energy resources and raw materials - exceeded 100 billion euros.
Being part of the European market, the Hungarian economy cannot but experience the negative impact of sanctions initiated by Brussels. The restrictions led to inflation and a slowdown in economic growth.
By maintaining cooperation with Russia in those areas that are not subject to restrictions, "Budapest is acting for its own benefit and at least partially mitigating the damage caused by sanctions," the ambassador said.
Hungary defines priorities
When asked if Budapest has enough strength to withstand pressure from Brussels, the Russian diplomat said: "In the person of our Hungarian partners, we have pragmatically minded politicians who are ready to defend the interests of Hungary, and not serve the goals of external forces. This applies not only to relations with Moscow. We would be at the very least remiss to think so."
Hungary, within the framework of the European Union, defends its right to sovereignty in matters of illegal migration, protection of traditional values, and countering LGBT propaganda. "And these are only those questions that are, as they say, heard," Stanislavov recalled.
According to him, "a country’s capabilities are not limitless, and the question is how to correctly distribute its resources to solve emerging problems."
"Hungary, as it seems to me, has clearly defined its priorities and is acting accordingly. This is clearly visible in those areas of our cooperation that for Hungary are critically important from the point of view of maintaining economic security. Primarily, of course, we are talking about energy," the ambassador noted.
He recalled that recently, when signing documents on brining the construction of the Paks 2 nuclear power plant to the second, so-called binding stage of construction, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations of Hungary, Peter Szijjarto, declared the inadmissibility of sanctions in the field of nuclear energy. The Foreign Minister assured that "there will be no European sanctions against the nuclear industry in the future, especially considering that this would harm the national interests" of his country. Largely thanks to Hungary’s position, cooperation in this area, in particular the construction of the Paks 2 nuclear power plant, is still not subject to sanctions.