Budapest: The European Union has “shot itself in the lungs” with ill-considered economic sanctions on Russia, which, unless rolled back, risk destroying the European economy, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday.
Gas supplies to Europe have tightened, and fuel costs have soared since Russia invaded Ukraine in February and subsequent sanctions, leaving countries scrambling to refill storage and diversify supply channels.
The surge in gas and electricity prices forced nationalist Orban to curtail a year-long cap on utility prices for higher-usage households on Wednesday, rolling back one of the 59-year-old prime minister’s signature economic policies.
“Initially, 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 it is gasping for air,” Orban, a long-time sanctions critic, said in an interview.
Read: India, Russia & the West | By Rizwan Ghani
Orban said Ukraine needed help, but European leaders should reconsider their strategy, as sanctions have caused widespread damage to the European economy without weakening Russia or bringing the months-long war closer to any resolution.
“The sanctions do not help Ukraine. However, they are bad for the European economy, and if it goes on like this, they will kill off the European economy,” Orban said. “What we see right now is unbearable.”
“The moment of truth must come in Brussels when leaders admit they have made a miscalculation, that the sanctions policy was based on wrong assumptions and it must be changed.”
Re-elected in April, Orban said without Wednesday’s curbs, which will trigger a jump in energy costs for households consuming energy above the national average, the entire utility price cap regime would have to be scrapped.
