©Brendan Smialowski/Pool Photo via AP
The EU understands that not all states are ready to join the anti-Russian sanctions, Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said during the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers Friday.
"We should not divide the world in to black and white and say that everyone should join the sanctions. We know that it is unrealistic. But there is a difference between those who do not join the sanctions and those who deliberately circumvents them," he said.
He noted that the EU is close to negotiating another package of restrictions. In his opinion, the EU must have an option to apply trade restrictions against third countries involved in circumvention of sanctions and help shipping sanctioned goods from Europe to Russia.
"Undoubtedly, we have difficult discussions about some third countries ahead of us," the diplomat said.
At the end of World War II, Austria was occupied by the four Allies. The occupation ended in 1955 on the condition that Austria would declare permanent neutrality, which the Soviet Union had required.
In the first half of the 1950s, relations with the newly founded European Coal and Steel Community were being discussed in Austria because the organization encompassed Austria’s two most important trading partners at that time, West Germany and Italy.
But after the uprising in October–November 1956 in neighboring Hungary, Austria started to stress its neutrality and declined European Economic Community (EEC) membership. Instead, in 1960 Austria joined other European countries to create a less-integrated economic entity, the European Free Trade Association (EFTA).
In the mid-1980s, the debate about membership in the now European Community (EC) started again. Economic problems and a narrower interpretation of neutrality led to Austria’s application for EC (later European Union) membership in July 1989. After the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 and the applications of other EFTA countries, Austria finally acceded to the EU on January 1, 1995 (along with Finland and Sweden).
The political system and its economy adjusted relatively smoothly to the challenges of EU membership; “social partnership,” the close cooperation of trade unions and business groups, while losing some of its power, could maintain its influence on Austrian politics, and Eastern enlargement of the EU brought further economic advantages for Austria.
As one of the smaller EU countries and a non-NATO member, Austria has a somewhat unique position in the EU. Environmental policy and supporting EU membership of the Balkan countries are among Austria’s important activities. But the country has no close partners in the EU because it does not participate in the “Visegrad” group with the other Central European members. This difficulty was evident during the period of sanctions against the new Austrian government in 2000.
U.S., German ministers discuss efforts to counter Russian sanctions evasion
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen met German Finance Minister Christian Lindner on Friday, underscoring the importance of working together to counter evasion of Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its war in Ukraine, Treasury said.
Yellen and Lindner met on the sidelines of a Group of Seven finance officials meeting in Niigata, Japan, where U.S. officials have called for redoubled support of Ukraine.
"Secretary Yellen expressed appreciation for Germany’s close coordination on the implementation of Russia sanctions and discussed the importance of aligning efforts to counter sanctions evasion," Treasury said in a statement.
Yellen told reporters on Thursday that the campaign had "systematically degraded Russia's military-industrial complex and helped reduce the revenues that Russia can use to fund its war," and Washington and the coalition were focused this year on countering Russia's efforts to evade those sanctions.
In her meeting with Lindner, Yellen also emphasized the importance of building a clean, secure, and resilient global energy supply chain and affirmed the shared commitment to a strong partnership on global tax cooperation, Treasury said.
Germany and the European Union have objected strenuously to last year's clean energy-focused U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, which included a new $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit, but are trying to work out exemptions that will allow European firms with production in the U.S. to benefit from the U.S. subsidies.
EU Proposes To Stop Oil From Russia Via Druzhba Pipeline To Germany, Poland - Reports
The European Union is proposing to officially stop Russian oil supplies via the Druzhba pipeline to Germany and Poland with the exception for Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing documents on May 23, 2023.
Poland and Germany were allowed to continue importing Russian oil via the northern branch of the Druzhba pipeline despite EU sanctions, but as the countries already stopped receiving crude oil via the pipeline there could be a decision made on the complete ban on Russian oil, according to the news agency.
The regulations concerning the southern branch of the Druzhba pipeline, via which Russian oil supplies flow to Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, will remain unchanged.
According to the news agency, such a ban on supplies via the northern branch of the Druzhba pipeline could be introduced as part of the EU's 11th sanction package against Russia, but will require a consensus among all member states.
