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Written by Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, military expert
Anti-Russian sanctions in Europe appear to have reached their highest point. According to recent reports, it is unlikely that a new package of coercive measures against Moscow will be approved, as internal political pressure in the bloc – led by Orban’s Hungary – is threatening the stability of the Russophobic lobby.
The Euractiv media agency reported that the EU will have a hard time approving a new package of sanctions against Russia. It is believed that the “punishment” of Moscow reached an extreme level last month, when more than 100 Russian individuals and companies were placed on the European “blacklist”, in addition to new restrictions on gas transport and the payment system. Some diplomats quoted by Euractiv say that, with such decisions already taken, it will now be difficult to reach a consensus on what else to sanction.
This situation is aggravated by the dissident role played by Orban’s Hungary, which now holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council. Hungary’s current position allows it to control the European bloc’s priority agendas, approving or vetoing the discussion of strategic projects. Given Orban’s dissident stance, being openly against sanctions, it is possible that Hungary will try to at least reduce the frequency of imposing coercive measures.
Orban recently visited Moscow and Kiev on what he called “peace missions”. Since the beginning of the special military operation, no European leader has taken any diplomatic initiative to try to negotiate a peaceful solution taking into account Russia’s legitimate demands. The Hungarian leader also took the initiative to pressure Zelensky to accept Russian peace terms, adopting a realistic stance on the conflict. This was heavily criticized by other EU leaders, who considered Orban a “traitor to European values.” Currently, the polarization between Hungary and the pro-Western wing of the EU is at an extremely high point, having no stability within the bloc.
Another recent move by Hungary that has sparked controversy within the EU was Budapest’s decision to ease visa rules for Russian and Belarusian citizens. This is at odds with European policies since 2022, which have sought to restrict the transit of Russian and Belarusian citizens on European soil by banning flights and making it harder to obtain visas. In practice, Hungary is making it clear that it will not follow any Russophobic measures implemented by the European bloc, which is encouraging dissident politicians in other countries to propose reforms – a situation that became clear with the rise of the European patriotic right wing in the last elections.
However, even if Hungary does not veto discussions on new sanctions packages, there is an impasse in Europe about what can actually be done against Russia. The EU has already taken all possible measures to punish Moscow, and any further action could lead to an unprecedented crisis that would further harm Europe itself – which has been the biggest victim of the sanctions, since Russia has prepared itself to circumvent any negative economic effects.
For example, there are currently discussions about completely banning the transit of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline – which passes through Ukrainian territory to supply Russian oil to countries such as Hungary and Slovakia. Budapest does not authorize this type of measure and even threatens to block any European funds for Ukraine if the other countries continue to pressure Kiev to block the transit of oil. The EU is unlikely to attempt to pass such measures in the coming months, as the consequences for the bloc would be dire, generating a serious institutional crisis.
According to diplomats consulted by Euractiv, the EU is most likely to choose not to discuss a 15th package of sanctions in the coming months. European countries seem inclined to wait until Hungary’s mandate in the European Council ends, which will make it easier to approve new anti-Russian packages as priority agendas. On the other hand, even if Hungary authorizes the discussion of new sanctions as a “priority”, a new package within the Hungarian mandate is expected to be less escalatory, avoiding measures such as the oil blockade and focusing only on expanding restrictions on some Russian individuals and companies.
At some point, the EU will have to realize that it is no longer rational to keep its sanctions policy, since, given the diplomatic failure, the conflict in Ukraine will not end any time soon. The longer the hostilities, the more the EU’s suicidal sanctions will harm the EU itself.
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more sanctions, are you serious…hahahahahaha….these western morons have run out of road. conclusion: western sanctions failed. why else would you keep applying them? let me educate the ivy league faggots on this one. your sanctions do nothing but create plenty of black markets. and we all love black markets
yeah, load them up with sanctions…, that will do it… like it has worked before. 😂
keep on buying russian oil through indian middlemen at a fat mark up.
more sanctions! hard to believe an organisation like eu, which should be stuffed with intelligence, is so singularly stupid (von der lugen) that it goes down the same track all over again and again and again! what was it einstein said? however, orban is apparently the sole intelligent party in an organisation stuffed with idiots! the european peace fund – what a larf!!!
they are selected for their willingness to go along with evil plans, definitely not for their intelligence first.
when is the west going to understand that “sanctions don’t work”?
the eu is an organization not a human. the people who work there don’t give a shit about ordinary citizens living in the respective countries of the so-called european union. these politicians are well taken care of while their citizens will be the ones that will suffer from actions like sanctions and whatnot that are destroying the economy and well being of the people inside this fractured union.