Poland’s presidency of the EU Council will begin with the promotion of another package of sanctions against Russia
13 January 10:35
on January 14, the European Commission is to begin consultations with EU countries on the 16th package of sanctions against Russia. This was reported by RMF FM, citing several unnamed diplomats, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
It is noted that Poland, which holds the EU Council presidency, wants a new package of sanctions to be adopted on the third anniversary of the start of the war in Ukraine, that is, on February 24.
And on January 14, the European Commission is to start consultations with EU member states, during which EU ambassadors will present their proposals and concerns about the next package of sanctions. Only after listening to everyone will the European Commission present a proposal that must be unanimously approved by all EU countries.
Poland, which took over the presidency of the EU Council in January, will be able to play a key role by properly organizing the agenda of the meeting and supporting the European Commission in finding compromises.
According to RMF FM, the negotiations will be difficult, as the last, 15th package, unexpectedly adopted in mid-December during the Hungarian presidency, was “very weak”: it focused, in particular, on combating sanctions circumvention. The position of Slovakia and Hungary will certainly be a problem when a new package is adopted.
Poland calls for a blow to the energy sector
Together with a group of Scandinavian and Baltic countries, Poland already presented its proposals for the 16th package of sanctions back in December – as an EU member, not as the presidency. This group of countries has been demanding for a long time, for example, to hit Russia’s energy sector by imposing a ban on imports of Russian gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG). These countries also want to extend sanctions to the so-called “Russian shadow fleet,” i.e., old, dilapidated ships that illegally transport Russian oil.
So far, sanctions have been imposed on only 72 ships out of approximately 600 shadow fleet units. In addition, there is also a call for a ban on cooperation with the Russian nuclear industry.
