Tsakhkna urged Europeans to take a more stringent position against Orban. He called Hungary a very weak country that plays in the team of the illegitimate president of the aggressor country of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, and not in the European team.
The politician recalled that the seventh article of the EU agreement provides for the possibility of recalling the rights of the vote of the member state if it jeopar of the security of Europe and other EU members. When asked about whether this article should be applied to Hungary, he replied that there is such an opportunity, and “it is getting closer and closer.”
Tsakhkna also called Putin a liar and called for confiscation of frozen Russian assets. “He noted that in the field of real estate in Europe, assets in the amount of $ 240 billion or more are frozen. The money of the Russian Central Bank is mainly in Belgium.
The decision to extend sanctions should be made every six months, and each time the consent of Hungary is necessary. If they block the extension in June again, then not only the sanctions will expire, but Europe will also have to transfer € 240 billion to Putin, the minister said.
Context
Since the beginning of the full -scale invasion of the Russian Federation to Ukraine in 2022, Hungary has made statements that the Ukrainian authorities criticized. The country's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, in particular, repeatedly spoke out against the sanctions that the EU introduced against Russia. In January 2025, he stated that it was time to “throw off the sanctions from the window” and establish relations with the Russian Federation. According to the Prime Minister of Hungary, now Brussels in the “phase of drunkenness”, but “sobering” will still come.
On January 22, Bloomberg wrote that the EU has encountered a potential threat to miss the deadline for extending the action of sanctions against Russia due to the refusal of Orban to extend them. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that such actions of Orban may indicate his “Putin’s team”.
The blocking from Hungary took place on February 14, when the head of the European Commission of Ursula von der Lyaine announced at the Munich Security Conference that the EU should speed up the process of Ukraine’s entry.
On February 20, the Foreign Minister of Hungary Peter Siyyarto stated that Hungary would not support the extension of sanctions against the Russian Federation and Belarus at a meeting of the European Union, which should be held on March 10. According to him, you need to give time for negotiations between the United States and Russia.
On March 4, due to the position of Hungary, the EU stopped the preparation of the package of additional military support for Ukraine in the amount of about € 20 billion.
