why Europe called for abandoning anti-Russian sanctions – Teller Report Teller Report in Russian

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that the European Union needs to reconsider sanctions restrictions against Russia, as they are causing higher energy prices and undermining Europe’s competitiveness.

“Energy prices must be reduced by all available means. This means that sanctions (against Russia. – RT) should be revised, because with the current sanctions policy, energy prices will not decrease,” TASS quoted Orban as saying in the Kossuth radio program.

Orban recalled that on November 8, EU leaders adopted at an informal summit in Budapest the Declaration on European Competitiveness, which includes, among other things, a provision on the need to reduce prices for oil, gas and electricity.

According to the Hungarian prime minister, industrial companies in the European Union pay several times more for gas and electricity than their main competitors in the United States and China. This undermines the competitiveness of the European Union, Orban believes.

The Hungarian government consistently opposes the sanctions restrictions against Russia that the European Union imposed due to the conflict in Ukraine, as they caused greater damage to the European economy. As Orban noted, the EU does not have enough financial resources to support the Kiev regime without the participation of Washington.

“We must work to achieve change in Brussels because we need to achieve a turn towards peace. We need to start a constructive dialogue, because there is not enough money in Europe to finance the conflict without American participation,” Orban said.

The prime minister said that the government has developed a draft state budget for next year taking into account the fact that the armed confrontation in Ukraine may end. In his opinion, this “peace budget” opens up new opportunities for the country’s economy. He believes that a pro-peace candidate won the US presidential election.

“Now we are waiting for peace,” Orban emphasized.

Sanctions history

Let us remind you that 14 packages of sanctions were introduced against Russia by the European Union, including the refusal of Russian energy resources. The latest measures included restrictions on the transit of Russian LNG through European ports. At the same time, the EU will continue to purchase Russian LNG, but will prohibit its re-export. The EU has also imposed a ban on investments, the provision of goods, technologies and services for the completion of LNG projects such as Arctic LNG 2 and Murmansk LNG.

As the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said on November 9, the EU is preparing the 15th package of sanctions against Russia. According to him, the European Union must tighten measures against circumvention of restrictions and isolate the industrial capabilities of the Russian side.

• Head of European diplomacy Josep Borrell

• Gettyimages.ru

• © Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto

According to the EUobserver portal, which refers to European diplomats, the EU plans to agree on the 15th package of sanctions against Russia by November 19 – the association has already begun to put forward ideas for new anti-Russian measures.

As Bloomberg reports, in recent months it has become increasingly difficult for the European Union to win approval for anti-Russian sanctions due to the fact that Hungary often used its veto power during negotiations.

“Serious economic damage”

As Alexander Kamkin, a senior researcher at the Center for Comparative and Political Studies at IMEMO RAS, noted, the statements of Hungarian Prime Minister Orban reflect the reality in which the EU suffered great economic damage after the introduction of anti-Russian sanctions, especially in the energy sector.

“Orban is absolutely right. If you look at the statistics on the fall in industrial production in European countries, the situation is disappointing. In Germany, industry has simply gone downhill, in particular the auto industry is closing its main production facilities. The German automotive industry is preparing to lay off thousands of employees. In addition to problems with industrial production, there is also a high cost of energy resources and energy inflation,” Kamkin said in a commentary to RT.

According to him, all this makes the European economy less competitive and forces national governments to introduce “austerity regime.” At the same time, Kamkin doubts that Orban’s words about lifting sanctions from Russia could soon be supported in the West.

“The problem is that in the political class in Brussels there are people in power who are driven primarily by the so-called politics of values ​​and cancel culture, which makes it impossible for them to make a 180-degree turn. Even if Donald Trump, being primarily a businessman, significantly reduces support for the Kyiv regime, parapolitical religious fanatics like Borrell and Ursula von der Leyen, maniacally obsessed with their position, will stand their ground,” the analyst said.

However, if we discard all anti-Russian ideological ideas, then it would be beneficial for Europe to return to cooperation with Russia in the energy sector, Kamkin believes.

“American LNG is expensive. Moreover, despite all the bravura statements of European Euro-Atlanticists, American LNG export volumes cannot completely replace Russian gas. Gas is not only warm batteries in the house in winter, it is also a raw material for the chemical and automotive industries. The resumption of cooperation with Russia is practically the last chance for the survival of the European economy, which is weakened not only by anti-Russian sanctions, but also by the support of the Kyiv regime in the Ukrainian conflict,” the expert noted.

According to Kamkin, Orban rightly notes that without the participation of the United States, it will be too costly for Europeans to support the regime of Vladimir Zelensky.

• Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban

• AP

• © Petr David Josek

“And against this background, now the Hungarian prime minister is making another call to come to a peaceful denominator in Ukraine, Orban is actually sounding the alarm,” the analyst said.

For his part, political scientist Alexander Asafov called Orban’s ideas consistent with common sense.

“Orban is testing the waters to prepare both society and the political establishment for his ideas. However, I don’t think that the EU now has the opportunity to lift anti-Russian restrictions, given that the sanctions flywheel has been launched and the 15th package is already being discussed in Brussels,” the expert said in a conversation with RT.

At the same time, Asafov stated that anti-Russian sanctions have hit the EU countries hard.

“For Europe, the presence of sanctions against the Russian Federation means serious economic damage, and primarily in the energy sector. But it is beneficial for the United States that the European Union now finds itself in such a deplorable situation, so the EU is unlikely to be allowed to lift sensitive anti-Russian energy-related sanctions for them. However, after the inauguration of Donald Trump as President of the United States, the situation may change for the better, since he will focus on the internal problems of the United States,” the analyst concluded.