Orbán vows to maintain Hungary-Russia ties within sanction limits

Neither aggression against Ukraine and crimes against civilians, nor the death of Alexei Navalny, prevent Budapest from strengthening ties with Moscow. It could even be said, quite the contrary.

The West has (almost) unanimously held the Kremlin responsible for the death of the opposition leader. Meanwhile, on the day of Navalny’s funeral, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó boasted about having lunch with the head of Russian diplomacy, Sergey Lavrov.

On Monday, however, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, quoted by "Gazeta Wyborcza", left no doubts: the Hungarian government intends to continue developing its relations with Russia.

"We will only stop cooperating with Russia where Western sanctions exclude it," said Orbán, quoted by "GW". "Hungary is located between East and West, and in its economic policy, it focuses on developing the connections between these two worlds. We will not separate from the eastern part of the world," he declared.

Orbán also stated that sooner or later the war between Russia and Ukraine will end, and life will go on. Then, according to the Hungarian Prime Minister, his country will reap its rewards.

"There will be trade, there will be economy, and for us, these will be important relationships and significant market opportunities," Orbán said.

"Cooperation between Hungary and Russia is flourishing primarily in the energy sector. Hungary remains one of the largest recipients of gas and oil from Russia in the European Union, in this latter case taking advantage of an exemption from the EU embargo on Russian oil, forced by Orbán under the threat of completely vetoing such a ban in the EU," recalls Wyborcza.biz.