The European Commission plans to start consultations with the countries of the European Union on Tuesday, January 14, regarding the 16th package of sanctions against russia.
This is reported by the portal of the Polish radio RMF FM with reference to several EU diplomats.
It is noted that Poland, which currently holds the presidency of the EU, wants the new package of sanctions to be adopted on February 24 - the third anniversary of the start of russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
During the consultations of the European Commission with the EU member states, the ambassadors of the countries will present their proposals regarding the next package of sanctions. Only after listening to everyone, the European Commission will present a proposal for which it must obtain the unanimity of all the countries of the community, the publication says.
It is also stated that the negotiations will be difficult, because the last, 15th, package, adopted at the end of 2024 during the Hungarian presidency, was "very weak".
It is assumed that Slovakia and Hungary "will certainly be a problem in adopting the new package". A diplomat from Budapest has already told the publication that Hungary, as before, is against sanctions, and "nothing has changed in this regard".
It is also important, the article says, that other EU countries "are increasingly having problems with the introduction of further sanctions", because, as they claim, "they could hit their societies too hard".
"EU diplomats have the impression that a certain "ceiling" has been reached in decision-making on sanctions. Therefore, the EU is also considering restrictions that would have the same effect as sanctions, but would not require unanimity, for example, increasing duties on some agri-food products from russia and Belarus," the media writes.
As for what sanctions could be imposed, it is noted that Poland, together with a group of Scandinavian and Baltic countries, has already presented its proposals for the 16th package of sanctions. In particular, this group demanded "to hit the russian energy sector by introducing a ban on the import of russian gas and liquefied gas."
These countries also want to extend sanctions to the russian shadow fleet, that is, old, dilapidated ships that illegally transport russian oil. Currently (together with the 15th package), sanctions have been imposed on only 72 ships out of approximately 600 units of the shadow fleet, the publication reports.
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