Szijjarto: Hungary and Slovakia Not to Support Sanctions Package Against Russia

Budapest/Brussels, 23 June (TASR-correspondent) - Hungary, along with Slovakia, have decided not to support the proposed 18th package of sanctions against Russia regarding the war in Ukraine, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto stated on Facebook on Monday after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels. “We've made it clear that we won't allow Hungarian money to be sent to Ukraine. We're not willing to contribute to any new financial support, any new transfers of weapons, or any new military operations,” said the Hungarian foreign minister later at a press conference in Brussels. According to Szijjarto, Brussels called for the creation of the strongest and most comprehensive sanctions package possible to severely punish the energy sector. “Together with Slovakia, however, we blocked the adoption of the sanctions package,” the minister stated, adding that Brussels wants to ban member states from purchasing cheap Russian natural gas and oil. lin/mcs