Without an import ban

EU now wants to sanction Russian liquefied gas

Brussels is preparing another package of sanctions.

(Bild: AFP/FOCKE STRANGMANN)

For the first time since the attack on Ukraine a good two years ago, Russia is facing EU sanctions on liquefied natural gas. This is the result of a draft sanction, which is available to the AFP news agency. However, the measures are far too lax for many EU parliamentarians.

There are no plans to ban the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Europe. According to the draft, the EU only wants to ban two things for the time being: the transhipment of Russian LNG in European ports, including onward shipping to Asia; and secondly, European investments in liquefied natural gas projects in Russia, for example in the city of Murmansk north of the Arctic Circle.

According to an analysis of tanker routes by the German non-governmental organization Urgewald in March, the EU remains the "central hub for Russia's liquefied natural gas business". Russia ships its LNG to Asia primarily via ports in Belgium, France, Spain and Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

EU Parliament wants to go further
The EU now wants to put an end to this at least. The European Parliament is also calling for a complete stop to LNG imports from Russia, as outlined in a non-binding resolution from November. However, the member states are not yet prepared to do this, as the sanctions proposal by EU foreign affairs representative Josep Borrell shows. Hungary in particular considers "all sanctions in the energy sector to be harmful", as can be seen from a government statement on Tuesday.

Last year, EU countries paid 8.1 billion euros for liquefied natural gas supplies from Russia, according to a study by IEEFA, an institute specializing in the energy sector. Diplomats in Brussels are expecting several weeks of discussions on the new sanctions proposal, which requires unanimity among the member states.

Russian contacts are to be combated
The EU also wants to ban all political parties, foundations or NGOs and media companies from accepting "financial aid, donations or other economic benefits or assistance from the Russian state". The background to this are allegations that Russia bribed MEPs via the Czech portal "Voice of Europe".

MEP Maximilian Krah is said to be on the payroll of Russia and China.

(Bild: AFP)

As a result, the German AfD member of the Bundestag and European election candidate Petr Bystron was among those targeted. He rejects the accusations. The Dresden public prosecutor's office is conducting preliminary investigations into the AfD's leading candidate Maximilian Krah due to possible money payments from Russian and Chinese sources.