Hungarian Foreign Ministry again blocks European sanctions against Patriarch Kirill

Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said that Hungary had blocked the EU’s personal sanctions against the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. Szijjarto believes that by this blockade, the Hungarian government “saved the remnants of the EU’s honor,” as sanctions against religious leaders limit the ability of the Church to act in the name of peace. This is reported by the Telex edition.

“They wanted to re-impose sanctions against Patriarch Kirill, but we did not allow it, because if we put church leaders on the sanctions list, we lose the opportunity for the churches themselves to act in the name of peace. However, the time for sanctions policy has passed, a new reality has emerged, as negotiations between the United States and Russia are developing very promisingly, and we sincerely hope that in the future relations between the United States and Russia will improve so much that all this sanctions policy can be forgotten,” — the Hungarian Foreign Minister said.

As a reminder, on November 22, 2024, Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree enacting the decision of the National Security and Defense Council to deprive “traitors of Ukraine” of state awards, with 34 people being deprived of their awards in the first place. The list of “traitors to Ukraine” also includes the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia.