The EU will drop restrictions on Moscow when “reality knocks on the door,” the state secretary for foreign affairs says
According to Tamas Menczer, Hungarian State Secretary For Foreign Affairs and Trade Tamas Menczer, the EU will examine Russia’s sanctions and may lift some as early as this fall.
The restrictions imposed on Russian trade to punish it for attacking Ukraine have failed to change Moscow’s behavior and actually rewarded it with increased revenues, after they triggered a spike in energy prices, the MP said during an appearance on M1 TV on Tuesday. The European nations that placed the sanctions face energy shortages while they wait.
“Reality knocks on the door of every country,”Menczer explained why he thinks the sanctions will be lifted soon. The autumn will see member states review their policies on sanctions.
The Hungarian MP confirmed that his country, which criticized the EU’s drive to decouple the economy of the bloc from Russian energy, opposed the idea of introducing a price cap on gas bought from foreign nations. He called the proposal absurd and impractical, citing Moscow’s promises to cut supplies to customers that try to dictate the price.
According to reports, the European Commission is working on taxing windfall profits from energy companies. Brussels has also asked EU members to take energy-saving steps to prepare for peak winter consumption.
READ MORE EU ‘loser’ in Ukraine conflict – Hungarian official
Last week, Hungarian Parliament Speaker Laszlo Kover claimed that the EU is the “loser” in the Ukraine conflict due to the economic damage caused by the sanctions.
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