25/08/2014 (Agence Europe) - Orban deplores distancing of Russia. On Monday 25 August, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban deplored the estrangement of the EU and Russia. “The EU is distancing itself from Russia a little more every day. This is not only bad for Hungary but for the whole EU”, he is quoted by French news agency AFP as telling the ambassadors of EU countries to Hungary. “We will seek the support of the EU member states that want to stop the process of separation” with regard to Russia, he added, without mentioning countries. Orban stated that the isolation of Moscow, Hungary's biggest economic partner outside the EU, could affect the EU's competitiveness - particularly in Germany. Orban criticised the European sanctions on 15 August - which were nevertheless taken by unanimous decision - and he believed that, in taking out these sanctions, the member states were “shooting themselves in the foot” because the measures adopted at the end of July actually penalised the EU more than Russia, he said. (CG)