Hungary celebrates trade ties with Russia despite Western sanctions

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijarto participated this Tuesday in Moscow in the intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation Russia-Hungary, where he celebrated the commercial ties between both countries despite the sanctions for the war in Ukraine. “Despite the difficult conditions, according to the latest data, the volume of trade is growing steadily, as is economic cooperation between our countries,” said the Hungarian minister quoted by TASS. The head of Hungarian diplomacy also emphasized that they will continue to oppose sanctions against Russia that go against Hungary’s economic interests, imposed by the European Union after the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022.

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For his part, the Russian Minister of Health, Mikhail Murashko, who chaired the commission, noted that “trade and economic cooperation between Russia and Hungary demonstrates stability despite the sanctions imposed.” Thus, Russia considers Hungary a reliable partner and highlights the mutual growth of trade in the services sector, which tripled last year. “We must work with determination and resist the pressure exerted on us, as well as achieve significant progress to improve the indicators of our cooperation,” Szijarto said in relation to the sanctions. For Hungary, it is vital to maintain the supply of Russian hydrocarbons, mainly the gas flowing through the TurkStream pipeline. “It’s not a political or ideological issue, but a pragmatic one, a matter of survival,” said the Hungarian official. Szijarto announced that they decided to move the operator of the gas pipeline from the Netherlands to Hungary, so that they can “guarantee operations and energy supply management”. At the end of November, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom he negotiated the supply of cheap hydrocarbons and the purchase of shares in Russian oil companies sanctioned by the United States in exchange for Budapest’s support in relation to the war in Ukraine.