Six EU countries demand easing of new sanctions package against Russia: details

The European Union is divided over the approval of the 21st package of sanctions against Russia. Six member states are demanding relaxations or exemptions, citing the need to protect their own economic interests.

This is reported by the Financial Times .

The EU is currently unable to agree on the 21st package of sanctions against Russia due to the position of a number of member states that oppose individual proposed restrictions. According to the publication, Greece, France, Italy, Germany, Austria and Portugal are seeking relaxations or blocking individual initiatives from Brussels.

Since the new sanctions package requires unanimous support from all EU countries, negotiations between ambassadors lasted several days, but no compromise was reached. According to diplomats interviewed by journalists, more and more governments are not ready to support tough sanctions if they could negatively affect their economies.

In particular, Greece insists on preserving the possibility of transporting Russian liquefied natural gas to third countries, explaining this by the risks for the shipping company Dynagas.

Germany and Portugal propose to exclude the ban on Russian fish imports from the sanctions. France and Italy advocate easing visa restrictions for Russian military personnel, and Austria insists on unfreezing some Russian assets to compensate for losses at Raiffeisen Bank.

The newspaper’s interlocutors note that the large number of requirements for exceptions could significantly weaken the effectiveness of the new sanctions package. At the same time, they say, the EU has almost exhausted the possibilities for introducing new restrictions against Russia without negative consequences for big European businesses.

Currently, the adoption of the 21st package of sanctions depends on whether EU countries can reach a compromise between supporting Ukraine and protecting their own economic interests.

By the way, Greece blocked the adoption of the 21st package of European Union sanctions against Russia due to restrictions that could affect the shipping company Dynagas, which transports Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG).

At the same time , Bulgaria is ready to support the 21st package of sanctions by the European Union against Russia after the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Kirill and the founder of Lukoil Vagit Alekperov were removed from the proposed sanctions list.

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