{"id":14397,"date":"2025-04-20T06:09:48","date_gmt":"2025-04-20T06:09:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=14397"},"modified":"2025-04-20T06:09:49","modified_gmt":"2025-04-20T06:09:49","slug":"hungary-would-hurt-eu-taxpayers-by-lifting-russia-sanctions-warns-estonia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=14397","title":{"rendered":"Hungary would hurt EU taxpayers by lifting Russia sanctions, warns Estonia"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Stay informed with free updates<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__content-sign-up-topic-description\"><span>Simply sign up to the <!-- -->War in Ukraine<!-- --> myFT Digest &#8212; delivered directly to your inbox.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"article__content-sign-up-iframe close\" scrolling=\"no\" id=\"signUpIframe\" data-prev-url=\"\/register\/in-article-sign-up?ft-content-uuid=42df5d14-c0d4-49df-bedc-adbf7fe66c75&amp;concept-id=8b9c78a1-2a6d-4e2f-9293-49f399f4f6ce\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p>Hungary\u2019s Viktor Orb\u00e1n will lump European taxpayers with an even bigger bill for support to Ukraine if he forces the EU to lift restrictions on \u20ac210bn of frozen Russian assets, Estonia\u2019s foreign minister has warned.<\/p>\n<p>Margus Tsahkna told the Financial Times that blocking the renewal of EU sanctions \u2014 a threat Orb\u00e1n has repeatedly made but never acted on previously \u2014 would leave G7 and EU governments on the hook for multibillion-euro loans made to Kyiv that were backed by Russian assets.<\/p>\n<p>The EU and G7 \u2014 which includes the US, Canada, Japan, France, Italy, Germany and the UK \u2014 last year used profits arising from about \u20ac260bn of frozen assets worldwide to underpin a \u20ac50bn loan to Ukraine. If the assets are unfrozen, the EU and the US would each be liable for \u20ac20bn of the loan, while the rest would fall on other G7 members. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe problem [is] that these assets which are guaranteeing this loan will be gone,\u201d Tsahkna said, referring to scenario where EU sanctions lapse. <\/p>\n<p>Officials expect Orb\u00e1n to adopt an even more truculent approach in the upcoming discussion to rollover sanctions, which expire at end of July. Sanctions need to be agreed unanimously by EU member states. The vast majority of the frozen assets are held at Euroclear, a financial intermediary based in Belgium. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf they are going to block it, then the sanctions will be down. And the central bank assets will be delivered to Russia, to [Vladimir] Putin, as an award,\u201d Tsahkna told the Financial Times. \u201cWe cannot let it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The European Commission has been trying to develop a fallback plan should the sanctions rollover fail, but EU officials have said that most legal avenues are fraught.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need some kind of legal frame or some kind of procedure,\u201d Tsahkna said, saying it would need to involve a \u201ccoalition of the willing\u201d that goes beyond the EU to include G7 members and countries such as Norway. <\/p>\n<p>Estonia advocates G7 countries seizing the Russian assets rather than leaving them subject to sanctions. \u201cIt would be the most clear and most understandable solution,\u201d Tsahkna said.<\/p>\n<p>Some countries in the EU and the G7 have resisted such a move, arguing it may violate international law and undermine faith in the euro. Belgium, where some \u20ac190bn of the assets are held at the central securities depository Euroclear, strongly opposes such a move, fearing it would be the prime target of legal challenges.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur position has not changed,\u201d Belgian budget minister Vincent Van Peteghem told the FT. \u201cConfiscation is not an option for the moment due to all the risks that are related to it. And at the same time, it is better to keep these frozen assets as a lever during the peace negotiations with Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tsahkna said he was sensitive to the Belgian reluctance to seize the assets. \u201cWe definitely understand that they cannot be left alone in that very complicated situation,\u201d he said, adding that such a decision would need to be collectively taken by a group of states, ideally including the entire G7.<\/p>\n<p>Negotiations with Hungary should also continue, Tsahkna said, pointing out that Orb\u00e1n is dependent on EU funds. \u201cI know that they have many problems with their economy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Russia has been trying to find ways to get to the assets despite them being frozen. Ukrainian officials have warned that they are trying to selling portions to investors, who would recover them once they are unfrozen at a future date.<\/p>\n<p>Tsahkna dismissed those schemes as unrealistic. \u201cOf course Russia would like to use their frozen assets to bargain and make deals. But the fact is that they don\u2019t have these assets, they are frozen in Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tsahkna said that ultimately, what happens with the sanctions rollover and the frozen assets depends on peace negotiations brokered by the US. \u201cEven President Trump has said in theory that he gives the time up to the end of April and then he will act.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Additional reporting by Paola Tamma in Brussels<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Read the full article <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/42df5d14-c0d4-49df-bedc-adbf7fe66c75\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" rel=\"nofollow\">here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the War in Ukraine myFT Digest &#8212; delivered directly to your inbox. Hungary\u2019s&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-14397","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Hungary would hurt EU taxpayers by lifting Russia sanctions, warns Estonia | inFundPros<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the War in Ukraine myFT Digest -- delivered directly to your inbox.Hungary\u2019s Viktor Orb\u00e1n will lump\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=14397\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hungary would hurt EU taxpayers by lifting Russia sanctions, warns Estonia | inFundPros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the War in Ukraine myFT Digest -- delivered directly to your inbox.Hungary\u2019s Viktor Orb\u00e1n will lump\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=14397\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"inFundPros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-20T06:09:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-20T06:09:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/https3A2F2Fd1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net2Fproduction2Fbcb00385-d77a-41b1-9f8f-5f7de352b5c7.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"394\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Press Room\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Press Room\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=14397#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=14397\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Press Room\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/87f7e632b195ea95c91503d9281f5eff\"},\"headline\":\"Hungary would hurt EU taxpayers by lifting Russia sanctions, warns Estonia\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-20T06:09:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-20T06:09:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=14397\"},\"wordCount\":709,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Business\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=14397#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=14397\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=14397\",\"name\":\"Hungary would hurt EU taxpayers by lifting Russia sanctions, warns Estonia | inFundPros\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-20T06:09:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-20T06:09:49+00:00\",\"description\":\"Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the War in Ukraine myFT Digest -- delivered directly to your inbox.Hungary\u2019s Viktor Orb\u00e1n will lump\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=14397#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=14397\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=14397#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Hungary would hurt EU taxpayers by lifting Russia sanctions, warns Estonia\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/\",\"name\":\"Fintech Advance\",\"description\":\"Latest Finance and Tech News and Updates\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Fintech Advance\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/tech-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/tech-logo.png\",\"width\":409,\"height\":70,\"caption\":\"Fintech Advance\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/87f7e632b195ea95c91503d9281f5eff\",\"name\":\"Press Room\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/avatar_user_1_1697230663-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/avatar_user_1_1697230663-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Press Room\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hungary would hurt EU taxpayers by lifting Russia sanctions, warns Estonia | inFundPros","description":"Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the War in Ukraine myFT Digest -- delivered directly to your inbox.Hungary\u2019s Viktor Orb\u00e1n will lump","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=14397","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hungary would hurt EU taxpayers by lifting Russia sanctions, warns Estonia | inFundPros","og_description":"Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the War in Ukraine myFT Digest -- delivered directly to your inbox.Hungary\u2019s Viktor Orb\u00e1n will lump","og_url":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=14397","og_site_name":"inFundPros","article_published_time":"2025-04-20T06:09:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-04-20T06:09:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":700,"height":394,"url":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/https3A2F2Fd1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net2Fproduction2Fbcb00385-d77a-41b1-9f8f-5f7de352b5c7.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Press Room","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Press Room","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=14397#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=14397"},"author":{"name":"Press Room","@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/87f7e632b195ea95c91503d9281f5eff"},"headline":"Hungary would hurt EU taxpayers by lifting Russia sanctions, warns Estonia","datePublished":"2025-04-20T06:09:48+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-20T06:09:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=14397"},"wordCount":709,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Business"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=14397#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=14397","url":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=14397","name":"Hungary would hurt EU taxpayers by lifting Russia sanctions, warns Estonia | inFundPros","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-04-20T06:09:48+00:00","dateModified":"2025-04-20T06:09:49+00:00","description":"Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the War in Ukraine myFT Digest -- delivered directly to your inbox.Hungary\u2019s Viktor Orb\u00e1n will lump","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=14397#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=14397"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=14397#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hungary would hurt EU taxpayers by lifting Russia sanctions, warns Estonia"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/","name":"Fintech Advance","description":"Latest Finance and Tech News and Updates","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#organization","name":"Fintech Advance","url":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/tech-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/tech-logo.png","width":409,"height":70,"caption":"Fintech Advance"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/87f7e632b195ea95c91503d9281f5eff","name":"Press Room","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/avatar_user_1_1697230663-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/avatar_user_1_1697230663-96x96.png","caption":"Press Room"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/infundpros.com"],"url":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?author=1"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14397","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14397"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14399,"href":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14397\/revisions\/14399"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}