Hungary once again calls on the EU to review sanctions against Russia

He stated this in the interview with Index.

According to Orbán's adviser, Hungary has not supported sanctions since 2014 because it believes "that it is a political tool that is not effective, based on historical experience."

"In that case, the objective of sanctions should be to establish peace and withdraw Russia at least to the borders that existed before February 24. However, at the end of December, we are at a point where a series of sanctions have been imposed, there is still no peace, and Russia has occupied more territory," Balázs Orbán claimed.

At the same time, he assures that unity of the European Union is important for Hungary, so it will support restrictive measures against Russia, but "fights for exceptions in areas that are of elementary national interest."

"This was the case, for example, with oil sanctions. We also take the principled position that if new sanctions are introduced in the energy sector, it will harm our state. In view of this, we do not allow, for example, introduction of sanctions against religious leaders and officials who will play an important role in peacebuilding or be responsible for energy cooperation with us," Hungarian Prime Minister's adviser added.

In particular, Balázs Orbán also referred to the "national consultations" of the Hungarian government regarding sanctions, where the majority opposed them.

"It's time to talk in Brussels what sanctions make sense and what - which is obvious, maybe even to others - are hurting us, give the same effect as shooting yourself in a leg. We encourage a debate on this issue, and the opinion of over a million Hungarian citizens in a nationwide survey will be an excellent mandate for this," he believes.