The European Union plans to approve the tenth package of sanctions against Russia by February — SMI

The European Union has accelerated work on the tenth package of sanctions against Russia. The member countries want to adopt a new package for the Ukraine-EU summit in Kyiv, which should take place in early February. However, Hungary can delay the process. This is reported by the Polish agency PAP.

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Work on the new package of sanctions has accelerated

In recent days, work on the next package of sanctions against the Russian Federation has been gaining momentum in Brussels, and the head of EC Ursula von der Leyen hinted at this issue on Tuesday.

“We will put pressure on the Kremlin with sanctions as much as necessary. We will extend sanctions to those who militarily support Russia’s war, such as Belarus and Iran,” she said.

Andrzej Sadosh, Permanent Representative of Poland to the European Union, confirmed this.

“The work has really accelerated. Poland in the group of united states now offers further sanctions. The tightening of existing restrictions is also a constant process,” he said.

Read also: The USA imposed sanctions against one of the richest people in the Russian Federation, the daughter of VTB and Rosbank

According to the EU diplomat, the reason for the acceleration is the upcoming Ukraine-EU summit, and the catalyst is the approach of the war’s anniversary. EU diplomats are reluctant to talk about the details of the new package, as they stress that it is important not to lose the effect of surprise.

“Once again, there is a demand to extend sanctions on the export of Russian diamonds. The value of diamond exports to the Russian budget is estimated at 4.5 billion euros. This is a considerable amount,” the EU diplomat noted.

The new sanctions will also apply to products that could potentially be used by the Russian military. Sanction lists are also planned to be expanded to include more persons responsible for Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and war crimes.

Belarus will also be subject to new sanctions for extending support for Russia’s military actions against Ukraine. In this case, according to one of the diplomats, it is about “synchronizing Belarusian sanctions with Russian ones, especially sectoral ones, in those areas where Minsk cooperates with Moscow in military terms.”

Read also: Sanctions against Russia did not significantly affect the EU economy

The adoption of sanctions in the EU always requires unanimity. In this context, some diplomats fear that Hungary may delay the adoption of new restrictions, as it did in the past.

According to the representative of the EU, the Hungarians have already declared that they will not agree with some names on the sanctions lists, so we can expect further tension in relations with Budapest.

Let’s remind

The ninth package of EU sanctions was adopted in December. Although member countries advocating a tougher sanctions policy against Russia were not entirely satisfied with this decision, its adoption was due to the belief that at the end of the year, the EU should demonstrate unity on this issue.

As a result, some countries agreed to make concessions and give up part of their demands in order to reach a consensus among the 27 EU member states.

Source: Ministry of Finance

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