Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper)The Hungarian government has launched a national consultation survey on the EU’s sanctions against Russia in reaction to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
Introducing the survey questions on a website, the government said that the sanctions are “destroying the economies of Europe and Hungary”.
The questionnaire includes seven questions and needs to be returned by December 9.
On the issue of oil sanctions against Russia, the text reads: “An oil embargo related to our country would lead to serious supply problems for Hungary, and would be a huge burden on our economy. Do you agree with the Brussels oil sanctions? YES / NO”.
As part of the national consultation, the government has started a billboard campaign, with posters showing a bomb with the word “sanctions” written on it, accompanied by the caption: “Brussels sanctions are destroying us!”
The Viktor Orbán government has been accused of using leading questions and misleading information in the national consultations.
On Monday, Hungary was the only EU country that did not support setting up a training mission to enhance the capabilities of the Ukrainian army.
Reporters were told that Hungary had used the option of a constructive abstention, which falls short of vetoing an EU-wide agreement.
“We don’t participate in this training mission, we don’t send trainers, we don’t contribute to the costs of the operation,” a Hungarian government statement said.
One EU observer said, “These latest moves have underlined that the Orbán government is increasingly out of step with the rest of the EU on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
According to the YouGov-Cambridge globalism project, Hungary is one of the western outliers regarding public support for economic sanctions on Russia, The Guardian newspaper reported.
Only 32% of Hungarians supported maintaining sanctions on Russia, in contrast with 73% in the UK and 72% in Denmark. Moreover, 41% of Hungarians said the West had sought to threaten Russia from Ukraine. Thirty-five percent in Hungary thought Russia was to be blamed for the outbreak of the war. Relatedly, support in Hungary for sending light and heavy weapons to Ukraine to be used against Russian forces inside the country was low.
Separately, two journalists, Clément Di Roma and Carol Valade, have been awarded the European parliament 2022 Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for their documentary “The Central African Republic under Russian influence”.
Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, Pina Picierno, Vice-President responsible for the Prize, and Anthony Bellanger, Secretary General of the International Federation of Journalists and representative of the 29 members of the independent European-wide Jury, opened the award ceremony held in the Daphne Caruana Galizia Press Room of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
Metsola said: “The Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism sends a strong message. The European Parliament is on the side of truth and justice, of independent journalism.
A strong democracy needs a strong press. And there is no democracy without freedom of the press. In Europe, rights and liberties are goals we fight for, not obstacles.”
