Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban levelled sharp criticism against Europe calling for a revision of the EU’s strategy review.

“Sanctions are not helping Ukraine though, they are bad for the European economy and if this continues they will destroy the European economy”, he said.
The EU has “shot itself in the lungs” with ill-conceived economic sanctions against Russia which, if not withdrawn, risk destroying the European economy, Orban said.

Natural gas supplies in Europe have been tight and fuel costs have soared following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February and subsequent sanctions.

The energy hikes forced Orban on Wednesday to mandate a ban on exports of fuels such as natural gas and scrap a multi-year cap on utility prices for households with higher consumption.

“At first I thought we had only shot ourselves in the foot, but now it is clear that the European economy has shot itself in the lungs and is struggling to breathe,” the 59-year-old, a longtime opponent of sanctions, said in an interview on public radio.

Ukraine needs help, Orban said, but European leaders should rethink their strategy as sanctions have caused widespread damage to the European economy without weakening Russia or bringing the months-long war closer to an end. “Sanctions are not helping Ukraine though, they are bad for the European economy and if this continues they will destroy the European economy. What we are seeing now is intolerable,” he added, calling on European leaders to admit they miscalculated.

The moment of truth must come in Brussels when the leaders will admit that they made a miscalculation, that the sanctions policy was based on the wrong assumptions and that it will have to change,” he concluded.

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