Orban's top diplomat: Hungary will no longer block sanctions against Moscow

Hungary will not veto the 19th package of sanctions against Russia, as the adopted measures do not contradict national interests. This was stated by Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, Ukrinform reports, quoted by Focus.

"We are not vetoing this package, as we understand that it does not violate our fundamental national interests“, the minister told Bloomberg.

Szijjártó added that the sanctions against Russia "have not been successful".

According to the agency, EU leaders are expected to approve the 19th package of anti-Russian sanctions at a summit on October 23, after resolving differences with Slovakia. The new package will include trade restrictions against companies from China and India, as well as a ban on exports to Russia worth more than 40 billion euros that could be used in the military industry, including minerals, ceramics and rubber. In addition, the EU will add more than 100 tankers of the ''Russian shadow fleet'' to the blacklist.

The European Commission promised to adopt the 19th package of sanctions in September, but failed to do so due to disagreements between EU countries. On Wednesday, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said that Bratislava was ready to support the adoption of the 19th package of European sanctions against Russia, provided that the demands of the Slovak authorities are taken into account in the final document of the EU summit. Slovakia remained the last EU member state to block the adoption of new sanctions against Russia.