Hungary ratchets up anti-sanctions rhetoric as renewal deadline looms

Hungary has ratcheted up its criticism of EU sanctions on Russia as a crucial deadline to renew the restrictions looms closer, stoking fears the punitive regime painstakingly built across 15 different packages could soon come undone.

The bloc's sectoral sanctions imposed on Moscow for invading Ukraine include sweeping bans on trade in energy, technology, finance, luxury goods, transport and broadcasting, and a freeze of €210 billion assets held by the Russian central bank within the bloc.

But they need to be prolonged every six months, and the next deadline is 31 January.

The EU needs unanimous support from its members to continue sanctions, but Hungary has seized the moment to, once again, question whether the regime is effective and pertinent, and to argue the inauguration of Donald Trump as US president creates a new political context.

"Sanctions against Russia have done more harm to Europe than to Russia .. sanctions that do more harm to those who impose them than to those who are sanctioned do not make much sense," Gergely Gulyás, a member of Hungary's governing cabinet, told reporters on Thursday.

"That is why we have always argued for an end to the sanctions policy as soon as possible."

Gulyás said Trump's stated intention to seek direct negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin merited a broader reflection on the bloc's long-term policy, and the method by which sanctions are renewed every six months.

"For the time being, we need to discuss the issue with our European allies, with the members of the European Union, in view of the new situation," Gulyás said.

"So far, everyone has seen the extension of sanctions as automatic, but we do not think it is automatic now."

His comments came two days after Prime