MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd June, 2022) Hungary has been pushing for more exemptions to the proposed sanctions against Russia, including the right to resell pipeline crude and dropping top Russian cleric Patriarch Kirill from the list of sanctioned individuals, a EU official told Sputnik.
Hungary reportedly stalled the adoption of the sixth package of sanctions at a meeting of EU envoys in Brussels on Wednesday, two days after the European Commission announced that all 27 nations had agreed to ban seaborne Russian oil and allow Hungary to continue importing crude through the Druzhba pipeline.
"They discussed again the technical details of the timeframe for reselling Russian pipeline oil products in EU but I believe this is not a very easy topic to find common ground with the Commission," the EU official said on condition of anonymity.
Hungary wants to continue selling Russian oil products it refines, while its oil infrastructure is being adapted to crude sourced from elsewhere. Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said on Tuesday EU leaders insisted that Russian oil imports be used domestically and that the pipeline exemption last for a short period.
Another demand that Hungary voiced during the Wednesday meeting was to remove Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, from the proposed EU blacklist for allegedly backing Russian President Vladimir Putin and the military operation in Ukraine.
"They ask for the removal of Patriarch Kirill from the sanctions list of the 6th sanctions package suggesting they will not give the green light unless Patriarch's name is removed from the list," the source said.
The official added that it had caused frustration among EU ambassadors, as Hungary had not mentioned this condition during the EU summit on Monday and Tuesday. The source said that removing Names from sanctions lists had never been easy, especially at a late stage, but suggested "this might be a possibility."
European Commission foreign affairs spokesman Peter Stano confirmed on Thursday that the list of individual sanctions had not been finalized.
"This is the privilege and the competence of the member states to decide when it comes to the sanctions list specifically who will end up on the sanctions list and be adopted for the sanctioning or not these discussions are not finalized yet," he told a news briefing.
