Topic: 2026 – Implementation of Sanctions
Country: Hungary
Delegate Name: Maria Kamatoy
For decades, economic sanctions have long been a primary topic of international scrutiny, intended to exert political pressure while maintaining international peace and security. However, the growing reliance on UN sanctions should be recognized, as concerns regarding their effectiveness, humanitarian consequences, and unintended economic impacts have emerged within the international community. Hungary recognizes the importance of non-military means of exerting pressure; however, it maintains the position that sanctions must be carefully designed, targeted, and reviewed regularly to avoid unintended harm to civilians, economic stability, and sanctioning states themselves. Hungary is mainly affected by sanctions targeting Russia because most of its energy and economic supplies are sourced by Russia. Due to Hungary’s geography, it cannot import oil or gas by ship, making it heavily reliant on pipelines through neighboring countries. Hungary’s energy infrastructure is specifically built to use Russian oil, so switching to other sources would be difficult and expensive. Consequently, Hungary views the European Union’s planned phase-out of Russian energy by 2027 as “physically and economically impossible” without massive infrastructure subsidies. At the 2025 UN General Assembly, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó previously stated that “European Union sanctions against Russia have failed and backfired, causing greater economic harm to Europe than to Moscow.” Other UN Security Council resolutions, like Resolution 2270 (2016) on North Korea, largely emphasize how energy and financial sanctions can have unintended humanitarian and economic consequences. Furthermore NGOs like the International Crisis Group and Oxfam advocate for careful monitoring and evidence-based sanctions to minimize unintended harm to compliant states. Sanctions on Russian energy have had a significant impact on Hungary’s economy and energy security. Hungary imports 74% of its natural gas and 86% of its oil from Russia. Furthermore, European limitations on Russian energy raise energy costs for households and largely threaten Hungary’s energy supply. In response, Hungary has threatened legal action in European courts against plans to phase out Russian gas by 2027 while also blocking or threatening to block European sanctions that could destabilize energy supply. Last year, Hungary got an exemption from U.S. sanctions, meaning that it could continue importing Russian oil and gas while also buying natural gas from the United States. Hungarian studies estimate that bans on Russian gas could increase heating costs for families by 3.5 times. Moreover, studies suggest that energy price pressures from sanctions have contributed to significant inflation and rising household expenses within Hungary. This disproportionately harms Hungary more than the nation that is being sanctioned itself. In general the delegation of Hungary supports sanctions; however, Hungary insists they must be targeted, flexible, and based on facts. Hungary believes that the current sanctions process is only partly effective because while sanctions can target political and military elites, rigid implementation, insufficient exemptions, and limited monitoring often allow the sanctions to negatively impact compliant states and civilians. Minister Péter Szijjártó has emphasized that Hungary will not support sanctions that threaten national supplies or endanger the energy security of compliant states. Moreover, it was stressed that measures that hurt Hungary more than the intended target are “outrageous” and require immediate revision.” UN officials, such as Under-Secretary-General Rosemary DiCarlo, have acknowledged that sanctions should not “have adverse humanitarian consequences for the civilian populations”. Additionally, European High Representative Josep Borrell noted that energy sanctions have complex impacts on member states highly dependent on Russian supplies. Thus, Hungary calls for monitoring, and exemptions to protect household energy, industrial stability, the economy, and also national security. The delegation of Hungary is open to any other solutions that other countries are proposing as long as they respect Hungary’s energy security and economic stability. Hungary believes that sanctions should focus on political and military elites rather than energy supply, minimizing harm to civilians and compliant states. Measures should include transparent monitoring and regular impact assessments, with adjustments made as needed. Countries that are dependent on energy should receive exceptions to keep homes heated and industries running. Hungary believes in slowly diversifying its energy sources, like importing gas from other suppliers, in a way that fits its infrastructure. Furthermore, Hungary believes it is important to collaborate with other countries so that sanctions support negotiations instead of replacing them. Overall, Hungary believes that sanctions can be more effective when protecting economic stability, energy security and citizens through careful moderation and targeted restrictions.
Works Cited
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