The European Union is facing a new potential confrontation with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban over his refusal to sign the extension of sanctions against Russia over its war with Ukraine, Bloomberg reports, UNN writes.
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On Tuesday, Orban criticized the bloc's sanctions regime, which is due to be renewed every six months and expires on January 31, saying that the 15 sanctions packages are harming Europe's economy. In December, Orban said he wanted to wait until after Donald Trump's inauguration before deciding whether to extend the sanctions.
In his first days in office, Trump gave no indication that he intended to ease sanctions against Moscow, and on Tuesday he said he would likely impose additional measures if Russian dictator Vladimir Putin did not come to the negotiating table on Ukraine, the newspaper notes.
EU ambassadors are said to meet several times in the coming days to see if they can push through the sanctions extension, which has been a mere debate so far but requires the unanimous support of the bloc's 27 member states.
"Several diplomats said that there is no plan B for extending the sanctions if Orban continues to block them," the publication said.
If the bloc's diplomats fail to agree on an extension this week, the issue will be referred to foreign ministers who are due to meet in Brussels on January 27, according to people familiar with the matter. One of the people said the bloc still hopes to resolve the extension this week.
Orban has threatened other Ukraine-related measures in the past before eventually backing down.
"It's time to throw sanctions out the window and create a relationship with the Russians without sanctions," Orban told state radio on Friday. - "It's not soon, but we need to work on it.
Despite the fact that the issue of sanctions extension is stuck, the EU continues to discuss the 16th package of sanctions. Most of these plans will also require Budapest's support.
EU Commissioner for Economic Affairs Valdis Dombrovskis said on Wednesday that the EU should explore the possibility of imposing additional sanctions to reduce Russia's energy export revenues.
"Imports of Russian liquefied natural gas are actually growing, so there are ways we can still put more pressure on Russia," he said in Davos during a panel discussion on the Russian economy.