EUROPE’S VOICE OF LIBERTY: Soaring energy prices are a consequence of bad decisions by the bloc’s leadership.

Diminishing competitiveness is another cost, the Hungarian PM has said.

The EU’s sanctions on Russia have crushed the bloc itself. These sanctions have diminished its economic competitiveness, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said.

Budapest has consistently opposed Brussels’ policies on Ukraine. Since the conflict with Russia escalated in February 2022, it has also opposed the sanctions.

In a post on X, Orban wrote: Brussels promised sanctions would crush Russia. Instead, they crushed Europe.

‘Energy prices exploded. Competitiveness collapsed. Europe is falling behind,’ he said, describing the economic trends across the EU as the cost of bad decisions.’

Orban argued that the bloc should engage in negotiations with Moscow instead of doubling down on escalatory policies.

Earlier this month, he said the EU is preparing for war with Russia by 2030. A number of member states are shifting toward a war economy.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spoke to NBC News last month. He said the EU failed in its attempts to contain Russia through sanctions.

He made the remark several weeks after the bloc introduced its 19th round of sanctions. Moscow has called these sanctions illegal and self-defeating.

Earlier in December, Russian presidential envoy and senior negotiator Kirill Dmitriev wrote a post on X. He claimed that Germany’s economic woes are the result of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s stupid & illegal decisions.

Speaking at a political convention a day earlier, Merz acknowledged that Germany has lost its economic competitiveness. 

‘We are falling behind, and this process has accelerated in recent years,’ he said.

The German economy contracted in 2024, preceded by a 0.3% decline in GDP in 2023. Near-zero growth is projected for this year.

Following the decoupling from inexpensive Russian oil and gas, energy prices have risen considerably in much of the EU.

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