Why Greece and Hungary unblocked an agreement on a new package of sanctions against Russia

Ambassadors of member countries EU agreed yesterday the 11th package of sanctions against Russia, which was blocked by Hungary and Greece.

The Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU tweeted:

“Today, the EU ambassadors agreed on the 11th package of sanctions against Russia. The package includes measures aimed at countering the circumvention of sanctions and clarifying certain positions.”

New individuals and organizations have been added to the sanctions list – 70 people and 30 legal entities. Among the new ones is a ban on Russian vans crossing the border with the EU and on transporting oil via the southern branch of the Druzhba pipeline.

The concern in the EU is caused by a sharp increase in the supply of its products to the countries of the post-Soviet space – Armenia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Through parallel imports, it enters the Russian Federation. The new sanctions strengthen export controls and introduce a new mechanism for influencing non-Russian companies that are suspected of being involved in circumventing previous sanctions. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said:

“I welcome the political agreement on our 11th sanctions package. Tighter export restrictions targeting Kremlin-backed organizations would deal another blow to Putin’s war machine. Our tool against sanctions circumvention will not allow Russia to receive goods from their list.”

Greece and Hungary blocked the agreement on the eleventh package of sanctions for several weeks. An agreement in the negotiations was reached just a few hours after the Ukrainian authorities temporarily excluded five Greek shipping companies from the list of “international sponsors of the war.” Hungary was less fortunate – its largest commercial bank, OPT Bank, remained on the list.

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