EU Convinces New Greek Govt to Extend Russia Sanctions

Travel Bans, Asset Freezes to Continue Through September

The European Union managed to talk the new Greek government, the last holdouts, into ending their objections to extending existing sanctions on Russia, which were scheduled to expire on February 9.

The EU agreed to drop language calling for more sanctions from the draft, and will instead settle for just extending the sanctions, exactly as currently constituted, through September.

The EU is also promising to add a few names to the travel ban and asset freeze list, saying this proves their readiness to escalate the sanctions, even though they probably don’t have the votes for such measures at any rate and had to abandon official language to that effect just to get the Greeks on board.

New EU sanctions have to be unanimous, and several have expressed opposition to new sanctions, noting they would harm their economies at least as badly as it would harm Russia.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.