EU considers revising sanctions against Russia

The European Union is considering extending sanctions against the Russian Federation to a year. The bloc’s leaders are willing to discuss the possibility at a summit in Brussels in mid-June, the digital newspaper Politico reported, citing diplomats and EU officials.

According to the publication, the proposal came after Viktor Orbán left office as Hungarian prime minister. The Hungarian politician had previously regularly blocked similar decisions, exploiting the process to his advantage.

The European Commission will offer member states an option to leave things as they are or switch to a 12-month cycle. However, Orbán’s departure does not guarantee a smooth transition. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and Czech President Andrej Babiš have frequently supported Budapest. Brussels hopes it will be more adaptable without Orbán. Any decision requires unanimity, and failure could jeopardize the 20 sanctions packages.

Valdis Dombrovskis, the EU’s economy commissioner, stressed in an interview with Politico that now is ,,not the time for Europe to ease up on the pressure’’ on Moscow.

,,We need to push harder because Russia is suffering from a ,,static inflationary shock’’ at the moment’’, he said.

We recall that the 20th package of European sanctions against Moscow includes a ban on transactions with 20 Russian banks and transactions with the RUBx cryptocurrency, a ban on access to EU ports for new ships from the so-called ,,shadow fleet’’ used by the Russians to circumvent Western sanctions, and sanctions on 120 individuals and entities.