Fully 97% of the 1.4 million voters participating in the government’s National Consultation public survey have rejected the European Union’s “detrimental” sanctions against Russia, a government official has said.
Sanctions have failed to stop the war and have caused Europe “extreme economic difficulties”, government spokeswoman Alexandra Szentkirályi said on the government’s Facebook page. “A sweeping majority of Hungarians reject sanctions on oil imports and gas, as well as [any putative] restrictions in connection with nuclear energy,” she said. Participants have also “said a definite no” to further sanctions that could end up putting further upward pressure on food prices and pressure on European tourism, the spokeswoman added. The outcome of the survey is a “guideline” for Hungarian decision-makers, and “we are determined that people in Brussels should also listen,” Szentkirályi said. “The message of the consultation is clear: Brussels’s sanctions policy must be revised. Early peace talks are needed rather than ill-advised sanctions,” she said. Details of the results will be published soon, Szentkirályi added.