On Saturday in Brussels, the member states of the European Union approved the extension of sanctions against more than 2,600 individuals and entities responsible for violating or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. In a statement, the Council of the EU announced that the sanctions were extended by another six months, i.e. until September 15. The original validity of the restrictive measures was supposed to expire on Sunday, reports TASR.
“As part of the sanctions review, the EU Council has also decided not to renew the listing of two individuals and delist five deceased individuals,” the statement said. The names of these persons have not yet been released.
The Euractiv.com portal said on Friday, citing three EU diplomats, that Slovakia, with the support of Hungary, threatened to block the extension of sanctions if the Russian oligarchs Mikhail Fridman and Ališer Usmanov were not removed from the list. The information was also previously provided by Radio Free Europe/Radio Freedom (RFE/RL) and the EUobserver website. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also lobbied for Usmanov’s removal from the list, according to sources in the Financial Times.
The head of Slovak diplomacy, Juraj Blanár, noted on Thursday that the Slovak Republic supports discussions on the removal of these persons. According to him, several countries negotiated their deletion, and the discussion also covered other currencies. However, the AFP and DPA agencies, citing their sources, said on Saturday afternoon that Slovakia backed down from its demand and the two Russian oligarchs will remain on the sanctions list.
Sanctions against persons and entities are extended every six months. Their renewal requires the consent of all 27 member states of the Union. Countries such as Hungary and Slovakia have threatened to block the extension of these sanctions several times in the past. Several member states therefore call for the list, which was created after the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, to be renewed only once a year.
In March 2024, at the insistence of Bratislava, Slovak citizen Jozef Hambálek was removed from the sanctions list. A year later, after pressure from Budapest, sister Usmanova was also removed along with other Russian representatives.
Restrictive measures include a ban on travel to the EU, freezing of assets and a ban on making funds or other economic resources available to persons and entities included in the sanctions list. It also features Russian President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, and members of the Russian State Duma and Justice.
The EU is also currently negotiating the proposed 20th package of sanctions against Russia, which it wanted to adopt by the fourth anniversary of the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine (February 24). However, Hungary is blocked by a new set of restrictive measures. Budapest justifies its decision by the stopped transit of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline.
