Hungary's foreign minister threatened on Friday to block a new package of EU sanctions against Russia, condemning the inclusion of Hungary's largest bank OTP in the list of potential targets.
As long as OTP is on a Ukrainian list of supporters of the Russian war on Ukraine, the Hungarian government will not negotiate the new sanctions package, said Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó at an EU foreign ministers' meeting in Sweden.
It was scandalous that Ukraine had put the bank on the list as it had not violated any laws, said the minister in Stockholm.
The European Commission submitted the proposals for an 11th package of Russia sanctions to EU member states last Friday. These are mainly aimed at preventing those already sanctioned from circumventing the measures.
The proposals also include further trade restrictions however, which potentially affect Hungarian companies.
Josep Borrell, the EU's top foreign affairs representative, declined to comment on Szijjártó's remarks at a press conference after the ministerial meeting. He claimed the ministers had not heard the Hungarian minister make the remarks.
He said it was no secret however, that Hungary does not believe in the efficacy of sanctions on Russia.
Ukraine's National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NACP) had put the OTP bank on its list of war sponsors at the beginning of May, accusing it of supporting terrorism.
OTP is one of the leading banks in the Russian financial services market, even since the war has begun, said NACP.
