Several Member States, including France and Ireland, are ready to go in this direction, while the Foreign Ministers met in Luxembourg on Monday, April 11, to evoke new sanctions against the counter. of Moscow.
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“The wars have won or lost on the battlefield,” said Josep Borrell, head of the European diplomacy, when he arrived at a meeting of Foreign Ministers in Luxembourg on 11 April. While Ukraine is preparing to face a massive Russian offensive in the east of the country, the European Union wants to emphasize arms deliveries in kyiv. But also continue to increase economic pressure on Russia, to force President Vladimir Putin to retreat. However, on this point, the discussions did not reveal a political consensus on new sanctions, including the issue of a Russian oil embargo.
This track seems more advanced than that, even more sensitive, of a prohibition of gas imports since Russia, whose union remains dependent to 40% for its procurement. To do without Russian oil, which represents 26% of their crude, would be a priori easier for Europeans. In particular because the alternative suppliers and the means of transport of the barrels are more accessible than for the gas, which arrives in the EU by complex infrastructures of pipelines or listers. On the other hand, Moscow exports two thirds of his oil into the EU, which is therefore in a position of force. “In 2021, the invoice of oil imports [80 billion euros] was four times larger than that of gas [20 billion euros]. It is important to start with oil,” said Borrell.
Several Member States, including France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Romania, Lithuania or the Czech Republic, are ready to go in that direction. “I hope that oil will be part of the next packet of sanctions,” said Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney on Monday, who believes that “millions of euros” spent by the EU to buy “certainly contribute. to finance this war “. The French President, Emmanuel Macron, had also said “favorable” to such sanctions.
A “red line” for Orban
First reluctant, Austria and Germany begin to show “more flexible”, notes a diplomat. Still, the challenge is considerable for highly dependent countries of Russian oil, such as Bulgaria, Slovakia or Hungary. An embargo on oil or gas is “a red line”, had warned last week the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban, freshly re-elected, posting his determination to block such a proposal.
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