The EU states have agreed on a 14th package of sanctions against Russia. This is intended to close loopholes through which Russia has been able to obtain military equipment. At Germany’s insistence, the plans were watered down.
After weeks of delay by Germany, the EU has decided to tighten its sanctions against Russia. The permanent representatives of the member states agreed on a “strong and comprehensive 14th sanctions package”, as the Belgian EU Council Presidency announced. This is intended to “close loopholes”. So far, circumventing existing sanctions has in many cases meant that Russia’s arms industry can still use Western technology to produce weapons for the war against Ukraine.
After Germany exerted influence, the plans were watered down. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the agreement. The package makes it more difficult for Russia to access key technologies and deprives it of energy revenues, she wrote on X. According to diplomats, the formal sanctions decision is expected on Monday at the EU foreign ministers’ meeting in Luxembourg.
According to von der Leyen, the problem that Russia is using a so-called shadow fleet and a shadow banking network to circumvent sanctions should also be addressed. In order to circumvent the Western price cap on Russian oil exports to third countries, Russia is said to use ships that are not owned by Western shipping companies or are not insured by Western insurers. These ships are often very old and could pose a danger to the environment.
Sanctions against Billion dollar deals with LNG
In addition to the measures against the circumvention of sanctions, the package also includes new sanctions against Russia’s billion-dollar liquefied natural gas (LNG) business. According to diplomats, the aim is to prohibit ports such as the one in Zeebrugge, Belgium, from being used to ship Russian LNG to third countries. The aim of the regulation is to ensure that Russia can sell less LNG due to a lack of transport capacity and thus generate less revenue for its war of aggression.
Germany the new Hungary?
The sanctions package had already been proposed by the EU Commission at the beginning of May. However, Germany delayed the agreement due to numerous concerns and requests for changes. The German government was particularly annoyed by the Commission’s proposals for circumventing sanctions via third countries: these would harm Germany, as the largest EU export nation, more than Russia, argued the Chancellor’s Office in particular. The passage has now apparently been watered down, and possible effects are reportedly to be examined first.
Specifically, it was about a so-called “No Russia” clause, which Germany itself had originally initiated: This is intended to prevent Russia from obtaining goods from EU production that can be used for civilian and military purposes via third countries such as Kazakhstan, Turkey or China. The EU Commission had proposed tightening this clause: the subsidiaries of European companies in third countries should guarantee that their goods do not reach Russia. They should be held liable in the event of violations. The German government considered this to be too strict a requirement and had called for changes; now, according to diplomats, the rule should not apply to subsidiaries.
Recently, it felt as if Germany was the new Hungary, said an EU official, alluding to the fact that Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Budapest government had repeatedly delayed decisions on Russia sanctions in the past. Chancellor Olaf Scholz described the accusations as “complete nonsense” and asserted the interests of the German economy.