The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyenoutlined before the European Parliamentin Strasbourg, the new package of sanctions -negotiated with the countries of the bloc-, and assured that it sends a message to the promoters of the war: “We know who they are, and we will hold them responsible”.
The central point of the new package presented by the European Union is the explicit decision to apply an embargo on oil imports from Russia.
“We are going to phase out Russian oil deliveries over a six-month period and crude oil product deliveries by the end of the year,” von der Leyen said.
The official admitted that the task “will not be easy.” “Some member states [de la Unión Europea] heavily dependent on Russian oil. But we have to work on this,” he added.
The intention, he added, is for the ban to include all Russian oil “transported by sea and by pipeline, crude and refined.”
Diplomatic sources in Brussels confided to AFP that the proposal was distributed to member countries shortly before midnight on Tuesday.
The package must be approved unanimously of the Member States so that it can be implemented, and according to a diplomatic source, the list of people and entities to be sanctioned could be modified.
The suspension of European imports of Russian oil is an extremely sensitive issue, since several countries in the bloc are highly dependent on crude oil from Russia to keep their industries running.
For this reason, Von der Leyen assured that the cessation of imports will be done “in a way that allows us and our partners secure alternative supply routes and minimize the impact on global markets.
Internal documents to which AFP had access confirm that the proposal is to adopt an exception until 2023 for Hungary Y Slovakiatwo countries that depend almost entirely on Russian crude.
Shortly after von der Leyen’s speech, however, the Hungarian government lamented the absence of “guarantees” for its energy security.
“We do not see any plan or guarantee how even a transition could be managed on the basis of current proposals, and how it could guarantee Hungary’s energy security,” the government press office told AFP in a message.
Russia supplied in 2021 approximately 30% of crude oil and 15% of oil derivatives purchased by the European Union.
In addition, the documents consulted by AFP reveal a long list of personalities and Russian soldiers to be included among those sanctioned by the EU.
The list includes the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Patriarch Kirilland the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskovas well as his family.
Von der Leyen also told Parliament that the EU intends to exclude Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, from the SWIFT interbank network.
Source: Ambito
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