The government of Germany is blocking the approval of a new package of sanctions by the EU against Russia, which are aimed at strengthening control over the circumvention of restrictive measures, as well as concerning the export of Russian liquefied natural gas. This was reported by DPA agency with reference to diplomatic sources in Brussels.
They cited “doubts and wishes to make amendments” from Berlin as the decisive reason why the sanction package has not yet been agreed upon.
“Lately, there is a feeling that Germany has become the new Hungary,” – quoted an agency informant, who was referring to numerous cases where Budapest blocked the process of agreeing on sanctions against Russia.
As the agency reminds, the main goal of the new sanctions should be to combat the circumvention of previously adopted restrictive measures, in particular, the focus is on the ability of the Russian defense industry to purchase Western technologies. Another goal will be the export of Russian LNG. The EU wants to ban the use of European ports to ship LNG vessels to third countries.
Germany is primarily concerned about the first component of the future sanction package, European diplomats told the agency. For example, Berlin demands the complete exclusion of the proposed new measure to hold foreign branches of companies accountable for violating the sanctions regime, or to limit its effect only to companies producing specific goods. Germany fears that otherwise German companies may suffer, the agency reports. The German authorities also consider some measures to be excessive and want to achieve their softening, such as restrictions on the use of the Russian system for exchanging financial information.