Some European Union politicians are already talking about the fact that the sanctions against Russia were not aimed at ending the war in Ukraine, which proves that these measures are not working, so now is the time to review them, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said on Tuesday.
Responding to a journalist's question at a joint press conference with his Romanian colleague Bogdan Aurescu in Budapest, the head of the ministry said that at Monday's meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, "part of the discussion took place in a way that left little room for common sense and calm discussion." Josep Borrell, the EU's high representative for foreign and security policy, highlighted the day before: they never expected that the sanctions would be able to stop the war in Ukraine, but it can be said that they will reduce the ability of the Russian army to procure military materials. Péter Szijjártó expressed his astonishment in this regard, saying that "a fundamental truth has been called into question, which until now has been an important pillar of decision-making in the Foreign Affairs Council". After some colleagues questioned that the goal associated with the sanctions is to end the war in Ukraine, then what is the goal, why did we do it? he asked, referring to "a large dose of hypocrisy". "The fact that some colleagues are now disputing this objective proves that the sanctions are definitely not working," he said, underlining that it is time to review the measures. In relation to Romania's Schengen accession, the minister pointed out that the preconditions for this are laid down in clearly written legislation, so it is not a political issue, but a practical one. "This is not scientific fiction, but this decision must be made on the basis of an investigation based on facts (...) We do not like it when such questions are approached on an ideological or political basis," he stated. He added: Hungary's experience is that there is no migratory pressure on the common border with Romania, the arguments are all in favor of Bucharest fulfilling the conditions. "I can only hope that not only Romania's Schengen accession, but all issues in the European Union in general will be decided on the basis of facts and real achievements. I'm naive, of course, because if that were the case, we would have received all the EU funds," he declared.
Source and featured image: MTI/KKM
