Austria makes excuse about blocking EU's 12th Russia sanctions package
Photo: In Austria, they came up with an excuse for not supporting EU's 12th package of sanctions against Russia (Getty Images)
Austria is delaying the approval of the 12th package of sanctions against Russia, allegedly due to a review of legal aspects. The country assures that it is not against the restrictions, reports Politico.
According to the publication, there were expectations that the new package of sanctions against Russia would be approved before the EU leaders' summit scheduled for December 14-15. However, this did not happen as Vienna slowed down the process.
Unnamed diplomats revealed that Austria wants to conduct "internal checks" before giving its approval.
"We are not opposed to package. We have to examine the legal aspects," said an Austrian official to journalists.
Politico notes that Hungary and Greece have previously used a similar method when demanding that Ukraine remove its companies from the list of international sponsors of the war. The Austrian banking group Raiffeisenbank is still on this list.
According to the publication, diplomats hope that such a delay will not jeopardize the approval of the package for an extended period.
As one of the diplomats pointed out, "conversations went relatively smoothly."
Background
Earlier, Radio Free Europe correspondent Rikard Jozwiak reported that EU ambassadors once again failed to agree on a new package of sanctions against Russia, but this time not due to Hungary.
Austria hindered the consensus, complaining that Ukraine included the Raiffeisen Bank International in the list of international sponsors of the war.
The 12th package of sanctions against Russia is mainly focused on measures to combat the circumvention of restrictions and includes a ban on the supply of Russian diamonds.
