Hungary opposes visa restrictions for Russians “in solidarity with German chancellor,” Hungarian MoFA Peter Szijjarto wrote after a meeting with his Estonian colleague Urmas Reinsalu.
He also said Hungary opposes a strengthened package of sanctions that Estonia is initiating, stating that Hungary does not “even want to discuss energy sanctions.”
Szijjarto reiterated that it is currently physically impossible to provide Hungary with oil and natural gas without Russian energy sources.
“And we will not encourage the Hungarian people to pay the price of the war. Energy sanctions will hurt Europe more than Russia, so their strengthening will be contrary to common sense,” he said.
However, Szijjarto noted that as a neighboring country, Hungary is “particularly interested in establishing peace as soon as possible,” only that its assessments on whether “sanctions would contribute to this” differed from Estonia’s.
Currently, Portugal, Germany, Greece, and Cyprus have opposed imposing visa restrictions on all Russians.
EU foreign ministers are slated to discuss such visa restrictions at a meeting on August 31.
