Croatian president blasts EU penalties against Hungary

By JUSTIN SPIKE
Associated Press

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Croatia’s president says that efforts by the European Union to uphold democratic standards in member countries are threatening to tear the bloc apart. President Zoran Milanović said Friday in Hungary’s capital Budapest that EU efforts to financially penalize Hungary for its alleged breaches of rule of law standards could lead to the bloc’s destruction. And he urged the EU to loosen its control over member states. Milanović made the statements during a news conference following talks with Hungarian counterpart Katalin Novák. Milanović criticized EU sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine. That echoed Hungary’s arguments that they were doing more damage to European countries than to Russia.