The European Union (EU) has agreed new sanctions targeting Russia's military industry and set out separate proposals which could potentially be used against European allies of Vladimir Putin, as the Russian president celebrates his 74th birthday. The two developments come as the EU seeks to counter Moscow's influence and prepare for possible enlargement. EU envoys approved about 1,646 new designations on Wednesday under the bloc's Russia sanctions regime.
The vast majority of those target Russia's military-industrial complex, with more than half focused on missile production. The package is the largest single set of designations since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022. The listings will go to EU foreign ministers for final adoption next Monday.
The EU's main Russia sanctions regulation currently covers more than 3,000 people and entities, subjecting those listed to travel and transaction bans and asset freezes. Separately, the European Commission—the bloc's the executive arm—has proposed new safeguards for future EU accession treaties, saying they would help ensure countries continue to meet commitments made during accession negotiations. The proposals include a new institutional safeguard addressing serious breaches of EU values and the principle of sincere cooperation.
In most serious cases, measures could include suspending a new member state's voting rights. The EU's enlargement commissioner Marta Kos told reporters that the bloc needed quicker mechanisms to respond if new members undermined democracy or the rule of law. Eli Gateva, a researcher in EU Politics and Policy at the University of Oxford, told Newsweek that although the proposed safeguard was comparable to Article 7, it was broader because it also covered the principle of sincere cooperation.
She said it “would be more easily enforceable” because it requires reverse qualified majority voting. Article 7 proceedings were previously launched against Hungary in 2018 and Poland in 2017 over concerns about democratic backsliding, but neither resulted in a suspension of voting rights. Because such sanctions require the unanimous approval of other EU member states, Poland's and Hungary's governments were widely seen as able to shield one another from the measure.
More recently, Orbán and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico have emerged as the EU leaders most resistant to tougher measures against Russia. The commission has also said its proposals would also prepare the EU's governance, policies and budget for enlargement. It is urging member states to make decision-making faster, including by using treaty provisions that can move some areas from unanimity to qualified majority voting.
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