FT: EU is losing patience with Hungary and wants to deprive it of its voting rights

Khrystyna Bondarieva , STANISLAV POHORILOV — Friday, 14 March 2025, 14:09

Budapest's reluctance to extend a series of EU sanctions against Russia in recent days has led to intensified discussions among EU member states about the need to deprive Hungary of its voting rights in key EU decisions.

Source: Financial Times, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Financial Times reported that the day before, EU ambassadors argued all day with the Hungarian ambassador to Brussels, who demanded that Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman and seven other individuals be removed from the sanctions list. Otherwise, Budapest threatened to refuse to support the extension of some anti-Russian sanctions for another six months.

Faced with the possibility that around 2,000 sanctioned individuals, including Kremlin ruler Vladimir Putin, could be exempted from sanctions due to a Hungarian veto, 26 ambassadors agreed to remove three individuals from the list. They had agreed to remove one more name a week earlier.

Eventually, according to sources, it was decided to extend the sanctions for six months.

But Hungary's latest attempt to blackmail the rest of the countries to gain benefits for the Kremlin has pushed the patience of other capitals to the limit.

More details: Meanwhile, if Hungary repeats its blackmail in July, when the decision to extend economic sanctions against Russia, including the freezing of state-owned natural resources in Europe, is made, the EU's determination to take action against Budapest may reach its peak.

Failure to extend the sanctions could actually unfreeze up to 30% of Russia's total frozen assets. According to estimates, it could be about €60 billion of unfrozen funds or even more.

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