EU Prepares Legal Move to Bypass Hungary on Russia Sanctions

(MENAFN) In an effort to sidestep Hungary’s ongoing resistance, the European Commission is reportedly preparing to redefine the legal framing of its anti-Russian sanctions, a media outlet has revealed, citing five anonymous sources.

Current EU sanctions against Russia—imposed due to the conflict in Ukraine—must be unanimously extended every six months. The current term concludes at the end of July. Hungary argues the measures are more damaging to the European Union than to Moscow and has obstructed several significant decisions related to Ukraine. Although it hasn't officially vetoed any sanctions, Budapest has often used the threat of a veto to extract political concessions.

According to the report, the Commission’s plan would involve reclassifying the sanctions to allow them to pass through qualified majority voting instead of requiring full consensus. This might include labeling the sanctions as capital controls or trade policies, or presenting them as unilateral actions. For instance, frozen Russian assets within the EU could be officially treated as a Belgian initiative, given that Belgium holds a large share of those assets.

“We are all focused on Plan A,” remarked one of the officials. “But there are discussions on the legal basis of alternative options.”

MENAFN13052025000045017169ID1109541715