The Croatian President said about the damage to Europe from anti-Russian sanctions

Zoran Milanovic

Sanctions against RUSSIA have hurt Europe and brought Moscow and Beijing closer together, Croatian President Zoran Milanovic told The Associated Press.

“The question is how much damage [sanctions] will do to us. it hurts Europe. We managed to bring Russia and CHINA closer together . In whose interest is this? - he said.

Milanovic urged those who, on "his behalf", make decisions about pan-European sanctions against Russia to answer his question.

He made his statement after negotiations with his Hungarian counterpart Katalin Nowak. Milanovic said at a press conference that he was annoyed by the EU's approach to punishing member states. In particular, we are talking about freezing funding for Budapest by € 7.5 billion last year due to Hungary's failure to comply with the rule of law. The European Commission expressed concern about the misappropriation of funds and insufficient provision of democratic rights in the country.

RMF learned about Hungary's blocking of €500 million in EU aid to Ukraine Politics

Hungary is one of the few EU member states that does not fully share Brussels' policy towards Moscow and Kyiv. For example, in December last year, the republic vetoed the allocation of a financial assistance package to Ukraine in 2023 in the amount of €18 billion. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban noted that it was in the interests of Budapest not to abandon all economic relations with Moscow, he called such a position pro-Hungarian .

Croatia, which joined the European Union in 2013, can also be classified as a country that does not always support EU policies. Milanovic has already stated that he considers the sanctions against Moscow to be nonsense, and accused the United States and NATO of waging a proxy war against Russia.