BUDAPEST, February 9. /TASS/. The Hungarian government continues to oppose the EU’s attempts to impose sanctions on Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus, Gergely Gulyas, head of the Hungarian prime minister’s office, told reporters on Thursday.
"Hungary has fundamentally removed Patriarch Kirill from the sanctions list, as the government believes that punishing church leaders is not in the interests of the world," Gulyas said, answering a question about Budapest's efforts to prevent EU sanctions against a number of Russian citizens. The representative of the Hungarian government noted that, in his opinion, it is necessary to approach each person individually, "because there is no collective guilt."
Last June, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that Hungary would never approve sanctions against church leaders, without whom a settlement in Ukraine could not be reached. "We want peace, and there can be no peace without the participation of church leaders," Orban noted.