Slovakia wants the EU to remove two Russian businessmen from the sanctions list. France supports a compromise, writes Politico, while other states refuse to accept Bratislava’s request.
EU states failed on Monday to extend one of the sanction regimes against Russia, five EU diplomats told Politico.
Three of them stated that EU ambassadors will meet again later on Monday for additional discussions.
The ambassadors gathered in Brussels must reach a unanimous agreement, as the regime – which regulates the freezing of assets of approximately 3,000 individuals and companies – expires on Tuesday.
However, there is a problem.
Slovakia’s Opposition
Slovakia has requested that the European Union remove two wealthy Russian businessmen, Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman, from the sanctions list. It seems that France has tried to reach a compromise, suggesting that only Usmanov be removed from the list, writes Politico.
Most of the other capitals were not willing to consider removing any names from the list while Russia launches a record number of missiles at Ukrainian civilian targets.
One of the diplomats stated that “against the backdrop of increasing hybrid threats and Russian drone attacks just one kilometer from the border with Poland, it’s hard to believe that France is actually requesting this.”
Another part of the discussion focuses on the option to extend the measures for six months, as has usually been done since 2014, or to renew them for 12 months. Slovakia is not willing to support the longer period, the sources quoted by Politico said.
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