Brussels seeks to sideline Hungary on Russia sanctions renewal – FT

The EU may alter its legal framework in order to extend penalties targeting Moscow without unanimous backing

The European Commission intends to employ a bureaucratic redefinition in order to prevent Hungary from blocking the prolongation of anti-Russian sanctions, The Financial Times has reported, citing five unnamed sources.

EU sanctions targeting Russia over its role in the Ukraine conflict require unanimous renewal every six months, with the current term set to expire at the end of July. Hungary claims the measures actually harm the bloc’s interests more than they damage Moscow, and has blocked several key decisions on Kiev. While Budapest has not formally vetoed any sanctions packages, it has repeatedly threatened to do so, in order to obtain concessions.

The European Commission’s proposal would reclassify the sanctions in order to allow qualified majority voting rather than insisting on unanimity, the newspaper said on Tuesday. This could involve framing the restrictions as capital controls and trade measures or possibly as unilateral initiatives. For example, the immobilization of Russian assets under EU jurisdiction could be recast as a Belgian national measure, since Belgium holds most of the funds.

”We are all focused on Plan A,” said one of the officials. “But there are discussions on the legal basis of alternative options.”

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Some officials are reportedly wary that the proposed maneuvering could expose the bloc’s sanctions to legal challenges. One source said that during a meeting last week, some member states expressed a “lack of trust” in the EC’s legal competence, to the Commission’s surprise.

Russia last week called for Ukraine to resume peace talks that Kiev called off in 2022, suggesting they could begin as soon as Thursday.

Ukraine and its supporters have claimed no talks can take place unless Russia agrees to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire – a condition which Moscow officials have described as likely a ploy to give Kiev time to regroup.

Moscow has rejected the threat of further sanctions should it refuse the truce, stating it will not be spoken to in “the language of ultimatums.”

Hungary, along with Slovakia, has accused European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen of advancing a foreign policy that is detrimental to the EU. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban recently warned that granting Ukraine EU membership by 2030, as demanded by Brussels, would push the bloc into “a war.”