EU ambassadors have approved a sixth package of sanctions against Russia, which specifically includes a partially delayed oil embargo. However, according to the dpa agency, due to Hungary’s position, the European Union abandoned sanctions against Moscow Patriarch Kirill.
It is on the eve of Hungary’s demand to drop its sanctions prosecution against the Russian high priest, Bloomberg reported.
religious-financial issue
Nikolai Topornin, Associate Professor of European Law at MGIMO, expressed the view that Budapest has blocked sanctions against the Russian Patriarch based on the principle of separating European religious and state matters.
“The Hungarians act from the position of the inadmissibility of sanctioning religious figures, because according to all laws the church is separated from the states.
Moreover, apart from some philosophical discussions about the world, life and conscience, Patriarch Kirill was not noticed behind any objections. European countries did not speak out regarding the Catholic Church. That is, there is no clue that would put him under sanctions,” he said.
Dmitry Ofitserov-Belsky, senior researcher at IMEMO RAS, partially agrees, noting the importance of religion for Hungarian society.
“It is worth noting that it has been very frequent lately. [премьер-министр Венгрии] Viktor Orban holds meetings with Western partners in one of the Catholic monasteries. Although Orban himself is a Calvinist Protestant, by the way, this is very unusual for Hungary as it is a Catholic country. But for Orban personally and for Hungarians in general, questions of religion are not some kind of official cultural and historical history. For them, it is a fairly regular matter of existence, ”the political scientist noted.
At the same time, the expert noted that the economic interests of Budapest were no less influential on the decision.
It is very important that Hungary receives Russian hydrocarbons and at a fixed price, which is not subject to volatility, as in many other European countries. Therefore, it makes sense for Hungary to try to maintain communication with Russia, both economically and culturally,” he said.
According to the expert, “Budapest knows very well that the current situation will end sooner or later.”
“Ultimately, it will be necessary to get in touch with Russia again. From now on, Hungary will be one of the countries that will gain all kinds of benefits, including economic. Although it is too early to talk about it, of course,” he added.
Russia as a tool
Dmitry Ofitserov-Belsky emphasized that “In general, Hungary has no duty to put a spoke on the wheels of the sanction car.”
“Only Budapest has always valued its sovereignty, which is very difficult to defend within the European Union. Therefore, mostly for Hungarians, this is an attempt to declare that they have their own position to be reckoned with by all other European countries and especially by Brussels,” he said.
The expert reminded that the EU has been trying to influence Hungary for a long time. For example, we are talking about the allocation of funds to combat the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic – Budapest does not receive them.
In a similar situation there is Poland, which, by the way, adheres to a completely different approach towards Russia. Ofitserov-Belsky believes the patterns of their policies are similar.
“It cannot be said that the Poles took the opposite approach towards the Hungarians. They use partnerships with the US, UK and other non-EU powers to influence Brussels. Hungary is doing the same, but relies on its ties with other actors – Russia and China,” he said.
According to the expert, for Budapest and Warsaw, “the question is not about the reason usually given when applying certain restrictions, but about Brussels’ attempt to bend them to its will.”
“But both Hungarians and Poles are finally taking a fairly independent position. Either way, they know that pressure will be put on them. Therefore, this issue should not be seen as Hungary’s refusal to participate in the sanctions currently being imposed against Russia. It is a question of ensuring that the countries of Eastern Europe do not lose their independence,” he said.
less radicalism
According to experts, the Russian patriarch was excluded from the list of sanctions only because of the peculiarities of relations between Eastern Europe and Brussels.
Nikolai Topornin of MGIMO noted that the European Union has recently discussed a wide variety of measures against Russia, such as personal sanctions against the patriarch, which have not found support among certain members of the association.
“You have to understand that there are other repugnant sanction proposals, not just for Kirill,” the expert recalled. — For example, there was a proposal to ban citizens of the Russian Federation from buying real estate in EU countries – this measure was rightly blocked by Cyprus, noting that such a decision would violate all known standards of private property and free market. These kinds of decisions are taken by the courts, it is absolutely inappropriate to make them some kind of political tool.”
The political scientist expressed confidence that the decision-making system in the EU will continue to prevent the “radicalisation” of Brussels’ sanctions policy.
“There are many extremely radical proposals that do not fit neither the current agenda nor all the political and legal standards accepted in the EU. “As a result of joint brainstorming, such radical changes cease and only those who meet the economic and political convictions of EU countries remain.”