Hungary has not yet decided whether to support the renewal of the European Union's sanctions against Russia, which is due to take place at the end of this month, and believes that the EU should make a decision on this issue only after consultations with the incoming administration of the newly elected US President Donald Trump, Hungarian Minister for European Affairs Janos Boka said today, quoted by Reuters, BTA reports.
"I think it is quite natural, before we decide to extend the period by another six months, to ask the new US administration how it sees the future of the sanctions regime", Boka told reporters in Brussels.
"There is no decision yet on the Hungarian position", Boka specified. "We want to keep our decision until we understand how the US administration sees the future of the sanctions regime," he added.
The European Union has approved 15 packages of sanctions against Russia since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and is currently working on a 16th package. The sanctions to be renewed concern various economic sectors and the freezing of assets of the Russian Central Bank, Boka stressed.
The EU renews existing sanctions every six months, requiring a unanimous decision by all 27 member states. Hungary maintains closer economic and political relations with Moscow than other EU countries.