Thierry Mariani, a French lawmaker from the far-right Rally National party, said the tenth package of sanctions against Russia could be the “last” due to disagreements in the EU. His words are quoted by RIA Novosti.
“EC president Ursula von der Leyen desperately wanted to celebrate the anniversary of the start of special operations, but [в Евросоюзе] “There are deep divisions and they are becoming more and more obvious,” he said.
According to Mariani, the problem of gas supply from Russia causes contradictions in Europe. “Austria, Hungary and Slovakia specifically avoid this issue,” he said.
In addition, the parliamentarian noted that Brussels “refrained from talking” on some other issues – for example, about civilian nuclear power. He noted that the EU imports almost 20 percent of uranium from Russia, and that 19 Russian-made reactors “power five European countries”.
“The fact that 16 percent of the nuclear fuel consumed by American nuclear power plants comes from Russia, and 30 percent comes from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, which is close to Russia’s location, confuses Americans,” said Mariani.
Finally, he believes that the European Union already “has nowhere to impose sanctions” and that the delayed announcement of the tenth package of sanctions is “acknowledgment of failure and European desperation”.
Thierry Mariani is known for his pro-Russian statements, supporting the reunification of Crimea with Russia and repeatedly urging the EU to lift sanctions against the Russian Federation. He visited the Russian Crimea many times and stated that Europe should recognize the results of the 2014 Crimean referendum.
On February 25, the European Union introduced new sanctions against the Russian Federation, expanding restrictions on exports and imports, as well as restrictions of a personal nature. New bans were imposed on the work of the Russian media.
On the eve of this, on February 24, Reuters reported that the ambassadors of EU member states failed to agree on the 10th package of sanctions against Russia for the third time.
According to the sources, the new package of restrictions was blocked by Poland in the sense that exceptions to the supply of rubber from Russia to EU countries neutralized the new sanctions.
On 20 February, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, acknowledged the existence of disagreements within the EU regarding the new, tenth package of sanctions. “The tenth sanctions package will be approved in writing by February 24. Until then, the obstacles that still exist will be overcome. This commitment was accepted by all ministers, and the package received significant support from everyone.”
On February 22, Bloomberg reported that the G7 countries are planning to create a new tool to coordinate the enforcement of anti-Russian sanctions.
According to the agency’s material, the tool is tentatively referred to as the “implementation coordination mechanism”. With its help, countries will exchange information about any state and company suspected of “complicity” of the Russian Federation, avoiding or “undermining” sanctions. As a Bloomberg source points out, the United States is also concerned about complying with the restrictions already adopted against Russia.