Another ill-considered EP proposal: EU sanctions against Russia are ineffective and damaging to Europe, but let there be more

The European Parliament’s report on the effectiveness of sanctions against Russia also makes it clear: the sanctions imposed by the European Union are doing more harm to the European Union and its Member States than to the economy of Russia, which was the target of the sanctions. The EP proposal would nevertheless support sanctions. Furthermore, the EP’s new ill-considered proposal would jeopardise the energy supply of several Member States, including Hungary, make it impossible to reduce the cost of electricity, and would be harmful to the economy of Europe as a whole, which is why we MEPs of Fidesz and KDNP did not support it. 

The European Parliament plenary session in Brussels today adopted a resolution on the effectiveness of sanctions against Russia. The motion for a resolution notes that EU sanctions have had much less impact on the Russian economy than expected so far, and have not ended the military conflict in Ukraine. As the text of the resolution makes clear, the sanctions policy has no impact on the direction or content of Russian policy. Despite the fact that the sanctions regime has not proved to be an effective response to the war, the European Parliament is still pushing for a further tightening of sanctions policy and the introduction of new sanctions. 

The new energy sanctions proposed, including a complete embargo on Russian oil and gas, are unacceptable. The energy supply of several European Member States, including Hungary, would be cut off by the EP’s new crazy proposal, which proposes, among other things, the complete elimination of cooperation with Russian energy companies and with Russia’s nuclear power company, Rosatom, as well as a ban on imports of Russian nuclear fuel and technology. These damaging proposals, supported by the European Left and the Hungarian Dollar Left, would make it impossible for EU countries to have secure energy supplies and would have extremely negative consequences for the economies of the Member States. It is outrageous that the MEPs of the Hungarian Dollar Left, by supporting this proposal, are once again voting in favour of measures that will make it impossible to reduce the cost of utilities. In view of the fact that more and more evidence shows that the imposition of sanctions — and the imposition of further sanctions — is doing more harm to the European Union and its Member States than to the economy of Russia, which is subject to sanctions, we MEPs of Fidesz did not support the motion for a resolution.