The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Joseph Borrell, announced today that a sixth round of anti-Russia sanctions will be announced tomorrow with the hope that approval by all 27 member nations might be reached by the end of the week. He tweeted today that the new sanctions intend to “de-SWIFT more banks, list disinformation actors and tackle oil imports,” Reuters reported. Russia’s Sberbank is among the latest banks to be sanctioned. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will present details on the sanctions proposal tomorrow.
Based on what has been discussed publicly, the proposal will debate the ending of purchases of Russian crude oil and a ban on purchases of Russian refined-oil products before the end of 2022. This is reportedly now possible, because Germany has “changed its mind” on the issue while recognizing that this will cause major disruptions to its economy. It has also been decided to compromise by granting exemptions to Hungary and Slovakia, to allow them a much longer transition period, as both are highly dependent on Russian oil and aren’t willing to seek other alternatives. As Hungary’s Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said today, his government will not jeopardize its energy security by voting to ban Russian oil imports. “No one can expect the Hungarian people to pay the price of the conflict in Ukraine.”
The Guardian yesterday quoted German Finance Minister Robert Habeck saying that Germany isn’t opposed to a ban on oil but warning that Europeans will have to be prepared for the consequences, and that some countries would be hit harder than others. “We will be harming ourselves; that much is clear. It’s inconceivable that sanctions won’t have consequences for our own economy and for our prices in our countries. We as Europeans are prepared to bear [this economic strain] in order to help Ukraine. But there’s no way this won’t come at a cost to us. This is a bitter and harsh reality.” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told The Indian Express that “we will stop the import of Russian coal this summer.”
The Wall Street Journal May 2 provided detailed statistics on Germany’s plans to rapidly reduce its reliance on Russian oil, and even gas by arranging LNG imports from the U.S., Norway, and Gulf countries. But replacing natural gas will be a big problem, for the simple reason that Germany doesn’t have the regasification terminals that would be needed to receive large shipments of LNG, and isn’t expected to have them before 2024.
