Austria has refused to block the 12th package of EU sanctions against Russia. This was reported by Reuters citing sources.
According to media reports, Vienna previously vetoed a package of restrictions in an attempt to achieve the exclusion of Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) from the “black list” of Ukraine. As a result, Kyiv made a concession and crossed the bank off the list, the publication notes. The media writes that Austrian officials for several weeks demanded to exclude the bank from the Ukrainian list at meetings with European diplomats, and Raiffeisen representatives repeatedly met with NAPC employees. At the same time, Austria followed the example of Hungary and Greece – these countries had also previously blocked previous packages of sanctions, seeking to exclude their companies from the list of “sponsors of the conflict.”
RBI was blacklisted in March when Ukraine’s National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption accused the bank of continuing to operate in Russia. Kyiv sought to ensure that Vienna withdraws the Russian part of the banking group’s business from the Russian Federation.
Let us recall that the day before the EU summit participants agreed on the 12th package of sanctions against the Russian Federation. The European Union has begun a written procedure for approving new restrictions. The 12th package will include personal sanctions, a ban on the import of diamonds into the EU, a number of export restrictions, measures related to the ceiling on oil prices and bypassing existing sanctions. The sanctions will affect about 5 billion euros of trade turnover between Russia and the EU.
Source: Rosbalt
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
