Europe secretly continues trade with Russia , said Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto . His words after the meeting of the 15th Russian-Hungarian intergovernmental commission on economic issues are quoted by RIA Novosti .
According to the diplomat, anti-Russian sanctions are not working because a significant number of EU companies manage to cooperate with Russia in the economic sphere in a roundabout way.
“I would like to emphasize that all of Europe trades with Russia, some deny it, but we have no need for this. <…> The difference is that we discuss this issue honestly and openly,” Szijjártó said.
He added that in Hungary, companies will not have to deny looking for business partners in the Russian Federation, because for Budapest “this is not a dirty word.”
In June, Szijjártó explained that despite geopolitical and ideological pressure from the West, Hungary does not intend to give up its profitable cooperation with Russia in the field of energy supplies. According to him, when choosing energy sources for the country, the authorities are guided by practical considerations, not political statements.
Since the start of the SVO in Ukraine, the EU has imposed 14 sanctions packages against Russia. The latest one was on June 24. Under it, the EU, among other things, restricted the export of dual-use goods and technologies to 61 firms from countries outside the community, such as Kazakhstan , Kyrgyzstan , China , the United Arab Emirates and Turkey .
Earlier, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for attacks on Russian territory.