Orbán Strays from Facts on Sanctions on Radio
- 22 Nov 2022 6:37 AM
- Hungary Around the Clock
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán talked about sanctions on Russia, the price caps and the cabinet shuffle in his usual weekly interview with Kossuth Rádió Friday morning.
He said the missile landing in Poland last week shows that with the passage of time Europe will be drawn further into the war.
The widening sanctions, the rise in arms deliveries and the funding of Ukraine also point in that direction, he said, adding that “only the Hungarian position supports peace”.
On the subject of sanctions, Orbán said a few things that are at variance with reality, HVG writes.
He told his audience that Hungary never supported the sanctions, “we did not even vote for them”, when the fact is that Orbán voted for all EU sanctions against Russia.
He also said that when he formed the cabinet in May “there was already a war, but there were no sanctions yet,” The EU had approved five packages of sanctions by that time.
Orbán said this in response to an energy question, but he did not clarify that he was specifically referring to energy sanctions.
Orbán also highlighted the sanctions in discussing the cabinet reshuffle, saying it was necessary to create a separate energy portfolio because “energy prices will remain permanently high due to sanctions”.
However, this is not true, HVG writes, as the fact that Russia attacked Ukraine and did not deliver gas properly despite its contracts drove up the prices. There are no EU sanctions on gas, only for crude oil, but that only comes into effect from December.
He also attributed the rise in inflation to the EU’s policy of sanctions, and said inflation cannot be defeated with price caps but they can reduce it.
Price caps cannot be imposed on every product because that would be like Communism, he said, but families can be helped.
Photo: PM's press office Vivien Cher Benko
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