The EU’s latest Russia sanctions package adds 1,646 names, the bloc’s biggest single expansion yet, but a dispute over control of its foreign policy remains unresolved. Ambassadors in Brussels reached agreement Wednesday after several weeks of deliberations and legal scrutiny. Foreign ministers are due to approve the measures formally Monday in Luxembourg.
The Sanctions Decision
The measures target 743 individuals and 826 entities accused of supporting Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Another 77 lawmakers face sanctions for standing in elections in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories during the widely discredited State Duma election in September. The penalties include travel bans, asset freezes and a ban on providing funding. The EU will make the names public after formal approval.
Officials carried out an especially intensive legal review because of the number of names. Member states reached agreement as they sought to project unity amid a rapid succession of hybrid attacks, some attributed to Russia. The bloc has also started work on new listings after the drone incident at Leipzig airport in Germany.
Member States and the Veto Question
The latest deal follows last month’s contentious decision to remove two high-profile oligarchs, Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman, from the blacklist. France requested Usmanov’s removal, tying it to a prisoner release with Azerbaijan brokered by the Turkic states, which had long lobbied in the billionaire’s favour. One French citizen has been released; a second remains in prison.
The EU called the removal a painful concession and extended the sanctions list for an unprecedented three years. The blacklist will soon include almost 4,650 names. The Usmanov case has raised questions in Brussels about the precedent it could set for the EU’s common foreign policy, which depends on unanimity.
High Representative Kaja Kallas welcomed the three-year renewal earlier this week, while saying she thought Usmanov and Fridman were unlikely to appear on the list again. “Countries are free to put forward names that should be included in the sanctions list. But in the end, it is up to the member states to decide,” Kallas said. “And I do not see this on these two persons happening any time soon.”
Brussels Considers Changing the Rules
As the bloc prepares to admit new members, the European Commission has proposed using the so-called passerelle clause to replace unanimity with qualified majority voting on issues such as sanctions. The proposal aims to prevent vetoes from multiplying as the EU expands. Yet ending unanimity under the clause itself requires unanimity.
For now, the current arrangement stays in place. Member states decide whether to put names forward, and the existing unanimity-based system requires agreement among them on the bloc’s common foreign policy decisions. The latest list is growing, while the dispute over how much authority national governments retain continues.