Tensions were sparked at a meeting of EU foreign ministers after Greece and Hungary signalled that their approval on the EU’s 11th sanctions package against Russia may be conditional.
The latest sanctions package is designed to target Moscow’s intermediaries rather than the Kremlin itself, but Budapest and Athens have linked their approval for the package to a separate demand that the Ukraine must in turn strike several Greek and Hungarian companies off their own embargoed list of ‘war sponsors.’
“In the case of the Ukrainian name-and-shame list, the Greek companies are accused as International War Sponsors even though they are not violating the restrictive measures against Russia,” said an insider at Wednesday’s meeting.
Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, has vowed to work with the Ukrainians on a solution, but no deal is in sight.
According to POLITICO, the French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said Monday that the package has to be wrapped up by the next Foreign Affairs Council — but that is not until June 26 and falls just a few days before the meeting of European heads of state and government at the end of the month. However, some of the diplomats pushed back against that suggestion, saying a deal has to come sooner to avoid embarrassing the EU.
