Hungary halts EU sanctions on Moscow over Russian Patriarch leader Kirill's blacklisting

European Union heads of the member states and the diplomats on Thursday said that Hungary was refusing to give consensus on the sixth round of sanctions on Russia that includes oil embargo over blacklisting of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill. “Agreement is held up because Hungary is objecting to sanctions on Patriarch Kirill,” one EU diplomat said, according to Euractiv. The EU had blacklisted Russia's most senior cleric, Patriarch Kirill, as well as sanctioned Kremlin's oil revenue.

The 75-year old priest, Vladimir Gundayev from St Petersburg, in his recent sermons apparently justified Russia's war in Ukraine and "blessed the Russian soldiers fighting for the Russian World and Holy Russia in Ukraine." He also called for "spiritual purification of Ukraine" and labelled Russian aggression "a religious cleansing operation." Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orban had accused the EU of an attack on religious freedom after the latter banned the orthodox authority. In an interview with Hungarian public radio Orban, a staunch Putin ally, said he is against the move, calling it an "issue of religious freedom".

While the EU yesterday agreed on halting the Russian oil deliveries, exempting supplies that arrive via pipeline Hungary contested the move, also raising objection to blacklisting of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill.  The 27-nation bloc met on Wednesday to hold a debate to reach a unanimous decision on the sixth package of sanctions that included a total oil embargo on Russia. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen told MEPs that the punitive measures being taken by the member states would target the oil sector of Russia. 

Hungary's dependence on Russian energy makes compliance unfeasible

Hungary, Russia’s strong ally, demanded an exemption from the European Union proposal to ban Russian oil imports, citing its dependence on Russian energy as making such a compliance totally unfeasible. “This package of sanctions will completely destroy the security of Hungary’s energy supply,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó had told a press briefing. He further argued that his country was reliant on Russian oil imported via existing pipelines. While the EU stated that its sanctions will cut an estimated 90 per cent of Russian oil exports to the EU by the end of the year, Hungary, over Krill’s blacklisting, registered a stronger objection to the move. The EU also sanctioned Russia’s largest bank Sberbank from the global SWIFT payment system and has imposed a ban on insurance for shipping Russian oil to third countries.