EU sanction efforts on Russia hit snag
BRUSSELS – The European Union’s efforts to impose a new round of sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine appeared to be bogged down on Monday, as a small group of countries opposed a ban on imports of Russian oil.
Since Russia invaded on Feb. 24, the bloc has implemented five rounds of sanctions on Moscow. President Vladimir Putin, senior officials, more than 350 lawmakers and pro-kremlin oligarchs were hit with asset freezes and travel bans. Banks, the transport sector and alleged propaganda outlets were targeted.
What could have taken years in the past has been achieved in less than three months – relative light speed for the 27-nation bloc. But limiting Russia’s energy income by weaning their dependency off its oil – not to mention gas supplies – is proving a tougher nut to crack.
The EU’S executive branch, the European Commission, proposed on May 4 a sixth package of war sanctions that included a ban on oil imports from Russia. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen conceded at the time that securing the agreement of all “will not be easy.”
Hungary is one of a number of landlocked countries that are highly dependent on Russian oil, along with the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Bulgaria also has reservations. Hungary gets more than 60% of its oil from Russia, and 85% of its natural gas.
“Unhappily, today it has not been possible to reach an agreement” to end the oil stalemate, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said after chairing a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers in Brussels.
The problem, Borrell said, “was technically too complicated, and it was not possible to reach a political decision.” He said he could not predict how long it might take to break the deadlock, but said EU ambassadors would continue work on the issue in the coming days.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba was disappointed by the delay.
“We understand why it is not happening,” he told reporters as he left the meeting. “But time is running out, because every day Russia keeps making money” by selling oil to Europe.
Muddying the waters is Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s relationship with Putin. Orban is widely considered to be one of the Russian leader’s closest European allies. He has only reluctantly supported previous EU sanctions.
Since taking office in 2010, Orban has deepened Hungary’s dependency on Russian energy and says its geography and energy infrastructure make an oil shutdown impossible. His EU partners are at odds over what they believe is driving his reluctance to target oil.
“The whole union is being held hostage by one member state,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said. He said that the European Commission’s proposal offered members a phaseout of Russian oil until Dec 31, 2024, and that “everybody expected that this would be enough.”
But his Irish counterpart, Simon Coveney, acknowledged that “these are difficult, difficult issues for some countries,” and he added: “Let’s not focus on obstacles and negatives today.”