“All wars end up in negotiations,” he emphasized, stressing that the world should focus on achieving peace and bringing about the end of the war. At the same time, Szijjarto said that Hungary depends on Russia for oil and gas and that security represents “a definite red line for us.”
Stocking the Shelves in Russia
Grocery stores in Russia are stocked with goods – almost all of them made in Russia. According to a report published by NielsenIQ this week, Russia-made products accounted for 83% of the country’s market for common consumer goods in the first half of 2022, up 4% on a year before. Domestic production of so-called fast-moving consumer goods is filling shelves as imports slump amid Western sanctions against Russia. The sanctions have caused many foreign companies to bolt from Russia. Some of the biggest declines in foreign goods occurred in the alcohol market, where Russian beer made up 89% of sales in the first half of 2022, up from 79% a year before, the Nielsen data showed. “The assortment of goods available for consumers on shop shelves has narrowed,” Konstantin Loktev, retail director at NielsenIQ Russia, said in a statement, identifying one of two major changes to hit the industry. “In this difficult period, a second trend began to develop: goods that have
disappeared from shelves have started to be actively replaced in the consumer basket by brands produced in Russia, for which large opportunities have opened up.”
No Mechitzah at Egalitarian Section
On Monday, the Prime Minister’s Office issued a directive prohibiting bringing a mechitzah, a separating barrier, into the egalitarian section of the Western Wall. On Monday, head of the Budgets and Projects Department of the Prime Minister’s Office Drorit Steinmetz wrote to the director of the Company for the Development and Renovation of the Jewish Quarter, Herzl Ben Ari, instructing him to ensure anyone seeking to bring a mechitzah to the site is blocked at the entrance. The organization is responsible for the management and administration of the southern prayer section, while a steering committee comprising two officials from the Prime Minister’s Office along with Ben Ari coordinates between the organization and the government. The egalitarian section of the Kotel has made headlines recently after Reform groups said that charedim disturbed a bar mitzvah being held there. The Reform Movement in Israel said that it welcomed the mechitzah ban but said the step would not prevent other forms of disturbance at the prayer site and called for greater measures to ensure order. “I call on the prime minister to turn the egalitarian section into a dignified public space that allows all Jews in Israel and from the Diaspora to pray in accordance with their customs,” said Reform Movement in Israel director Anna Kislanski.
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Speaking to the Washington Times, Szijjarto added, “We’ve made our position clear many times that we condemn the military attack by Russia against Ukraine.”
