EU expects new sanctions push against Russia under Poland's presidency – Politico

The EU is expecting discussions on toughening sanctions against Russia to intensify from the beginning of next year, when Poland takes over the presidency of the Council of the European Union. 

Source: Politico, reported by European Pravda

Details: From 1 January 2025, Hungary, Moscow's closest ally in the EU, will be forced to hand over control of political discussions to Poland, which will be fully prepared to move the sanctions issue forward.

Warsaw has already made it clear that it wants to use its six-month presidency to tighten control over Russian fuel entering the EU.

Quote from Krzysztof Bolesta, Polish Climate and Environment Minister: "The imports of Russian energy [are] growing. This is a bad sign. We need to address that."

More details: There is considerable support for the initiative to achieve greater transparency in the supply of Russian fuel to the continent. Recently, 10 countries, including France, Czechia, Sweden, Finland and three Baltic states, issued a joint warning that there has been "a recent increase in imports of Russian LNG" in the EU, but that "these natural gas suppliers are not currently properly identified".

The document calls for stricter checks on the origin of gas entering the EU, Politico says. This proposal is likely to come before the Polish presidency in January.

This issue is likely to be on the agenda because few major sanctions besides LNG remain. Instead, future sanctions packages are expected to focus on combating the circumvention of existing restrictions.

Any new sanctions will also have to overcome Hungarian opposition, even if Budapest no longer holds the EU Council presidency, as the EU needs unanimity to adopt new sanctions.

Ukraine has expressed optimism that Poland will be able to resume negotiations on EU sanctions.

Quote from Vladyslav Vlasiuk, Ukraine’s sanctions commissioner: "We have high hopes for the Polish presidency of the Council. As a neighbouring country directly experiencing the harsh realities of this war, we expect Poland to drive strong action on sanctions."

Background:

• At a meeting of European leaders on Thursday, which was attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, EU member states signed a statement pledging to "further limit Russia's ability to wage war, including through further sanctions".
• Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called on the allies to tighten sanctions and export controls after an expert examination recently found freshly manufactured Western components in a DPRK missile shot down in Ukraine.
• Meanwhile, the US Congress is calling for tougher anti-Russian sanctions in the oilfield services sector.

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