Szijjarto slams EU sanctions against Myanmar, China as 'pointless and harmful'

Hungary sees the European Union's sanctions against persons and institutions in Myanmar and China as "pointless, grandstanding and harmful", Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in Brussels on Monday. Speaking to Hungarian press on the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign ministers, Szijjarto said such strategic decisions were "particularly senseless" at a time when international cooperation was gaining special significance as "a tool to save lives rather than [introducing] austerity measures". The sanctions will further poison EU-China ties, relations the former could profit from greatly "if cooperation could be based on rational thinking," Szijjarto said.