LONDON, February 15. /TASS/. Hungary has blocked the approval of the latest, thirteenth package of EU sanctions against Moscow, which may affect dozens of individuals and legal entities from Russia and other countries, the Financial Times wrote.
Hungary was the sole naysayer at a meeting of EU ambassadors that otherwise would have signed off on the sanctions package, which targets almost 200 people and entities from Russia, China and other countries, the paper said.
This time Budapest’s decision was connected with measures aimed not against Russia, but against China, FT wrote citing officials. "The Hungarians did not agree due to Chinese companies," one of the officials was quoted as saying. The proposal calls for sanctions against three Chinese companies and one in India, according to the article.
A spokesman for the Hungarian ambassador to the EU did not respond to FT’s request for comment.
Bloomberg reported last month citing a source that the EU had initiated discussions of the 13th package of anti-Russia sanctions. Potential sanctions planned to be approved by February 24, were discussed on January 17 at a meeting of the EU committee of permanent representatives, the agency said. Expansion of sanctions lists, additional trade restrictions and measures to counter circumvention of sanctions by Russia were suggested. Later an EU spokesperson confirmed that the European Union intended to impose more sanctions against Russia by the second anniversary of the start of the special military operation in Ukraine.