Spending money: EU wants to adopt the 20th package of sanctions faster
The European Union is intensifying the discussion of the 20th package of sanctions. In the coming months, Brussels intends to accelerate consultations, the EP told Izvestia. At the same time, it becomes more difficult to agree on new restrictions, and it will most likely not be possible to adopt the list before the end of the year. More and more countries are trying to block sanctions. Along with Hungary and Slovakia, Malta, Cyprus, Greece and Austria opposed it. Other instruments of pressure, such as the so-called reparation loan, arouse skepticism in Belgium, France and Italy. However, despite the decline in economic growth, the EU will continue to follow the United States in targeting the energy sector of Russia and its friendly countries. And the European Commission has already banned the issuance of tourist multivisa for Russians. But this will not cause significant damage, and there is no need for mirror measures, the Federation Council emphasizes to Izvestia. What could be in the new package of sanctions is in the Izvestia article.
What will be included in the next package of sanctions
The European Union is trying to adopt a new package of sanctions as soon as possible, the 20th in a row. The previous one was officially approved with a creak just two weeks ago, and preliminary consultations on the next one have already begun in Brussels.
— Whether it will be adopted by the end of 2025 is not yet clear — it depends on the course of negotiations and the ability of all Member states to reach a consensus. Nevertheless, I expect that discussions will intensify in the coming months in order to maintain pressure on Russia," Tomasz Zdechowski, an MEP from the leading European People's Party, told Izvestia.
Given that Brussels focuses on its overseas and overseas allies in its foreign policy, that is, London and Washington, the new sanctions will most likely be similar.
— Firstly, this is a standard extension of the lists of legal entities under sanctions. Escalation may be directed at Russian energy companies, after the Americans and the British took this path. The second is the energy assets of companies in friendly countries of the Russian Federation. Such sanctions were already in two packages when refineries were subject to them. The same British imposed restrictions on the Chinese port infrastructure. They are groping in this direction," says Ivan Timofeev, Program Director of the Valdai International Discussion Club and General Director of the RIAC.
On October 22, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions against the oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft. In addition, European media write that Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Finland, Sweden and Estonia demand to impose duties on Russian iron and steel, inorganic chemicals, as well as potash fertilizers. By the way, the total volume of exports of these items in 2024 reached 5.4 billion euros.
— Ferrous metallurgy products are already under sanctions and can only be supplied to the EU under certain quotas. They won't make a big revolution here," Timofeev notes.
Therefore, it is likely that the financial sector will come under pressure again, and there may be secondary sanctions, the expert concluded.
Meanwhile, the EU economy has been teetering on the edge for a long time, including due to continued support for Ukraine. And, first of all, European citizens are suffering. In August, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz admitted that social security spending was out of control and posing a threat to the state budget: "This will require painful decisions. It will require cuts." A year ago, ECB President Christine Lagarde warned that the social programs of the largest European countries were under threat.
As a result of anti-Russian sanctions in a number of countries, the lost GDP growth rate over the past three years has been estimated at double digits. The Scandinavian and Baltic states, as well as Germany, are suffering, Ekaterina Arapova, a leading researcher and head of the research program at the MGIMO Institute of International Studies at the Russian Foreign Ministry, tells Izvestia. This is also why the EU has not yet been able to abandon Russian oil and comply with US demands, namely, to increase pressure on its largest importers— China and India.
— Against this background, if it is politically important for the European Union to adopt the 20th package by the end of the year, then it is absolutely impossible to do this with the approval of some breakthrough new instruments, especially considering how long and difficult the process of discussing the 19th was. Apparently, they will simply continue due to the inertia of recent years," the expert noted.
At the same time, there is no money for Ukraine either, and Brussels has long since switched to far from the most legitimate ways to attract additional finances.
"The European Union is looking for alternative sources of financing, for example, income from frozen Russian assets or additional financial instruments,— Zdechowski said.
The idea of a so-called reparation loan for Ukraine secured by frozen Russian assets is currently being actively discussed. In total, about €185-210 billion of reserves of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation are placed in the EU, most of which are in the Belgian depository Euroclear. Unsurprisingly, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever warned against setting a dangerous precedent, fearing reputational costs for the country. In order to convince the Belgians, the European Commission even scheduled a meeting at the leadership level on November 7, Politico claims. Italy and France are also approaching this idea with caution. As a result, on November 4, the EU deputy finance ministers, for example, failed to make progress on this issue.
Euroclear headquarters in Brussels
It is obvious that more and more countries are opposed to certain restrictions, especially when it contradicts national interests. When discussing the latest sanctions packages, in addition to Hungary and Slovakia, which traditionally defend their energy security and do not want to abandon Russian fuel, there are new "troublemakers." In particular, Malta, Greece and Cyprus opposed limiting the price ceiling for the purchase of Russian energy resources when adopting the 18th package, and Austria demanded the unfreezing of assets for Raiffeisen Bank International when agreeing on the 19th.
The EU has banned multivisa for Russians
The first sign ahead of the discussion of the new package of sanctions was the next restrictions for Russians, which were discussed at the stage of agreeing on the 19th package. The European Commission announced a ban on the issuance of multiple entry documents. This means that Russian citizens will no longer be able to receive Schengen multivisa, and each time they enter the community countries they will have to apply for a new one. The EC explained that the examination of applications is now subject to thorough checks, and exceptions will be made only in certain "justified cases," for example, when the applicant is an independent journalist and human rights defender. The measures will not affect, among others, relatives of EU residents, transport workers and seafarers. Since the decision was made on November 6, and the member countries receive notification within 24 hours, the restrictions will take effect immediately, starting on November 7.
However, there will still be no complete ban on the issuance of visas in the 20th package of restrictions.
"A complete ban on the issuance of visas to all Russian citizens is unlikely at this stage, since this will require a unanimous decision and amendments to the current EU legislation," Zdechowski believes.
In addition to the technical difficulties, many European tourist countries simply will not agree to such a radical step. In France, they had already announced the day before that they were not going to ban anything. In September, a Greek news website pronews.gr He reported that Hungary, Greece, Spain and Italy blocked a proposal put forward in the EU to tighten the issuance of visas.
It is important to recall that as early as 2022, a number of EU countries decided not to issue visas to Russians at all. These are Belgium, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia, Finland, the Czech Republic and Estonia, while in 2025 Bratislava changed its mind. Iceland and Norway, members of the Schengen area, also supported the anti-Russian policy on this issue.
However, the new restrictions don't change the picture much. Industry experts say that multivises are now being issued to a minimum number of tourists, and, as a rule, business travelers. In 2024, Russians received about 550 thousand. Schengen visas (although about 4 million were issued back in 2019), of which less than half were multiple. Greece, which is traditionally loyal to tourists, has been applying for visas only for the duration of the trip for more than two years. The situation is similar in most cases with Italy. Hungary has remained the most hospitable country so far. Therefore, the new restrictions of the European Union are more like another demonstration than some kind of painful blow. Moreover, experts from the Russian Union of Travel Industry do not expect a reduction in the flow to Europe, as the interest of Russian citizens in these areas is unlikely to dry up.
Russia does not need to respond with mirror measures to the next EU restrictions, especially since they will not cause significant damage to Russians, Vladimir Dzhabarov, Deputy chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, tells Izvestia.
— They will invite you. Finland now officially declares that it is losing €1 million a day due to the absence of Russian tourists. In Karlovy Vary, where Russian tourists have been vacationing all the time, all the hotels are empty," the senator noted. — And there are countries where we are being seen more often. In China, India, the Emirates, and other countries.
The reaction was followed by the Russian Foreign Ministry. The European Union apparently does not need solvent tourists from Russia, "when there are illegal migrants and tax evaders from Ukraine in the EU," said Maria Zakharova, the official representative of the department.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
