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The EU’s latest package of sanctions against Russia is in limbo over internal checks from Austria, five European diplomats told POLITICO.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU has adopted 11 sanctions packages against Moscow — covering everything from energy to banking — in a bid to empty President Vladimir Putin’s war chest. The 12th sanctions package, put forward by the European Commission to EU countries mid-November, has been more focused on measures to tackle sanctions circumvention and includes a ban on Russian diamonds.
There was hope that this package would be approved by EU countries in time for the last summit of the year, which kicks off on Thursday, and will also touch upon Ukraine’s prospective accession to the European Union. Securing another set of sanctions against Moscow would also be a welcome political boost for Kyiv, while it strives to carry out the necessary internal reforms to join the bloc.
A deal was reached by the EU’s top envoys on Tuesday, the diplomats said, but Vienna has put a damper on the process as it first wants to carry out internal checks, said the diplomats, who were granted anonymity to speak about the sensitive matter.
“We are not opposed to the package,” said an Austrian official. “We have to examine the legal aspects.”
The hold-up has revived memories of a blockade by Hungary and Greece against a previous package of sanctions before the summer, where the two countries used the sanctions as political leverage to get their companies off Ukraine’s list of“war sponsors.” Austrian banking group, Raiffeisenbank, is still on Kyiv’s list of war sponsors.
Diplomats were, however, hopeful this would not jeopardize the package for too long. The “conversations went relatively smoothly,” one diplomat said. “We are confident we can announce the details of the package [Thursday] in the course of the day.”
