The European Union is considering changing its approach to imposing sanctions against Russia after Greece blocked the adoption of the 21st package of restrictions, seeking exemptions for its shipping company Dynagas. This is reported by UNN citing the Financial Times.
Details
According to the publication, Brussels is exploring the possibility of abandoning the practice of adopting large sanctions packages. Instead, new restrictions could be introduced through individual decisions or small thematic blocks, so that individual countries cannot delay the entire package due to national interests.
This may be the last "package" of sanctions. It has now become absolutely clear that this approach no longer works
As the publication notes, during negotiations on the 21st package, Greece for several weeks demanded an exemption for the company Dynagas, which belongs to Greek shipowner Georgios Prokopiou. Athens insisted on preserving the ability to transport Russian liquefied natural gas, despite EU sanctions.
As a result, Greece secured an exemption for Dynagas, which, according to FT, became the first case where the overall EU sanctions regime against Russia was effectively softened.
According to several European diplomats, such tactics are unacceptable because the demands of one state delayed other important restrictions, including sanctions against dozens of Russian banks, financial institutions, and measures aimed at reducing Moscow's oil revenues.
At the same time, the Greek side claims that the ban on transporting Russian LNG was a mistaken decision that would harm European businesses but not the Russian economy, and instead would benefit shipping companies from China and other non-EU countries.
The European Commission officially does not comment on a possible change in sanctions strategy, but emphasizes that after the adoption of the 21st sanctions package, Russia is under significant economic pressure.