The EU mission approves the sixth round of sanctions once morest Russia: the oil embargo hits the biggest bank and kicks out SWIFT
Financial Associated Press, June 3 (Editor Shi Zhengcheng) According to the EU’s rotating presidency, France announced on social media on Thursday that in accordance with the spirit of the EU member state leaders’ meeting, the EU Council of Permanent Representatives has approved the sixth round of sanctions once morest Russia. , involving energy, finance and other fields.
(Source: Social Media) Although the specific text of the measures will not appear in the EU Official Gazette until Friday, the specific sanctions have already been “spoiled” due to the prolonged negotiations.
According to comprehensive media reports, the sixth round of sanctions bears the brunt of the oil embargo. Combined with the sanctions announced by Germany and Poland themselves, the EU said the ban would mean a reduction of 92% of Russia’s crude oil imports by the end of the year. Member states cannot buy Russian crude by sea for six months from the date the sanctions take effect, while Russia’s ban on refined petrochemicals has been relaxed to eight months.
The emphasis is on seaborne crude oil, mainly because the sanctions exempt crude oil from the pipeline in exchange for the support of the agreement by countries such as Hungary, which are the route of the “friendship” oil pipeline.
In the financial sector, the sanctions also kicked Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, out of the SWIFT telegram system, as well as Russian Credit Bank and Russian Agricultural Bank.
In addition to these two points, there are some other measures in this sanctions package as usual: including sanctions once morest individuals and their families in the fields of Russian military, security, industry, technology, sports, and propaganda; stop three Russian media from operating in the EU; ban Provide insurance and other services to Russian crude oil companies; expand the scope of the export ban to include more chemical and high-tech products, etc.
Hungarian influence
Since EU sanctions require the unanimous consent of the 27 member states, persuading Hungary has been a difficult task for EU leaders over the past few weeks, who finally accepted Orban’s proposition in full.
Interestingly, when major media outlets reported the incident on Thursday, the focus was generally on people not mentioned in the sanctions. The EU mission initially added Kirill, the bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church and Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia, to the sanctions list, but eventually dropped the claim.
Orban is understood to have asked Kirill not to be sanctioned in early May, but the issue was not discussed at Monday’s summit of EU leaders. Hungary’s claim angered diplomats from many EU countries, but the bloc eventually compromised on the issue in order to ensure that the entire set of sanctions would be passed.
It should be noted that this sanction is likely to be the last heavyweight sanction that the EU can come up with in the short term, at least the natural gas embargo is far from reaching the stage. Belgian Prime Minister Alexandre de Crowe told reporters this week that the sanctions plan was a big step forward and that there should be a pause next, adding that the gas embargo was “much more complicated”.
