3rd day of the war: Hungary is not blocking Russia's exclusion from SWIFT

HUNGARY - In Brief 26 Feb 2022 by Istvan Racz

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While there is heavy fighting in the streets of Kiyv and elsewhere in Ukraine, and well over 100k refugees have left the country already, President Zelensky and the Kiyv Independent news portal separately hinted that Hungary (and Germany) is blocking Russia's exclusion from SWIFT, as part of western sanctions against Russia.Soon after this news, Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szíjjártó denied this, saying that Hungary has not stepped up against any of the sanction proposals against Russia, and is not blocking any such initiatives. A bit later, Polish PM Morawieczki said in a Twitter post that he talked to his Hungarian colleague, who assured him of Hungary's support to anti-Russia sanctions, including Russia's exclusion from SWIFT. So far, PM Orbán has not gone public on the issue, and maybe he will not do so at all, with a view to not being publicly exposed on this sensitive subject.By the way, Hungary has no significant financial assets to worry about vis-a-vis Russia, and it has a deficit in bilateral trade. Hungary's merchandise exports to Russia reach less than 2% of the country's total exports.Until most lately, mainly the governments of the US and Germany have been heard as opposing the harsh move affecting Russian access to SWIFT.