EU Sanctions Deadlock? Hungary And Slovakia Pressure Brussels Over Russia Blacklist

At the end of January 2025, Hungary threatened to veto a six-month-extension of all the European Union’s economic sanctions imposed on Russia since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began three years ago.

The measures -- which included bans on importing Russian coal, diamond, gold, and aluminum -- were finally extended after Budapest obtained some written assurances from the other EU member states.

While Hungary failed to achieve its ultimate goal -- resuming Russian gas transit through Ukraine, which Kyiv halted at the start of the year -- it did secure a commitment that the European Commission would engage with Ukraine, Hungary, and Slovakia on Russian energy flows into the bloc.

Now, Budapest is once again attempting to water down the EU’s Russia sanctions -- this time targeting the asset freezes and visa bans imposed on over 2,400 individuals and companies over the past three years.

These restrictions apply to figures such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, as well as several oligarchs and businessmen accused of bankrolling or benefiting from Moscow’s war effort.

'EU Sanctions Dance'

While the economic sanctions are extended every January and July, these individual sanctions targeting people and entities are rolled over by consensus in mid-March and mid-September every year.

Hungary has leveraged this veto threat at pretty much every opportunity to get people delisted. And since last year, they have been joined in this endeavor by Slovakia, which largely shares Budapest’s Moscow-friendly stance.

Brussels diplomats refer to this as the twice-yearly "EU sanctions dance," in which Hungary and Slovakia propose the delisting of influential Russian oligarchs while the Council of Ministers’ legal team counters with a different set of sanctioned names who are referred to as "weak cases" -- meaning they would likely be taken off the list anyway due to a lack of sufficient evidence. A compromise is usually reached, blending both lists.

Last year, for example, those removed from the list included Arkady Volozh, co-founder of the Russian Internet giant Yandex; Russian businessman Sergei Mndoiants; Jozef Hambalek, a Slovak national and head of the Russian nationalist Night Wolves motorcycle club in Europe; Nikita Mazepin, a former Formula One driver and son of Russian oligarch Dmitry Mazepin; and Violetta Prigozhina, the mother of the late Russian businessman and Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.

This time. Hungary put forward six business figures whom it has tried to get delisted before: Dmitry Mazepin, Alisher Usmanov, his sister Gulbahor Ismailova, Mikhail Fridman, Viatcheslav Moshe Kantor, and Pyotr Aven. Additionally, Budapest has now added another businessman, Musa Bazhaev, along with Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyaryov.

The Council of Ministers, on the other hand, presented a counterproposal on March 7 that has been seen by RFE/RL. They suggested delisting three people who have recently died -- the veteran Russian politician Nikolai Ryzhkov and the military officers Andrei Ermishko and Aleksei Bolshakov. While removing deceased individuals is usually standard practice, the EU sometimes keeps them listed to ensure that assets in their name remain frozen.

On top of this, the proposal also suggested delisting the businessman Vladimir Rashevsky who is seen in Brussels as a “weak case” as he previously won a legal challenge in the European Court of Justice (ECJ) against the sanctions imposed on him. He has, however, remained listed, because the ruling applied only to a previous sanction period, and Brussels had since renewed the measures.

Deadline Fast Approaching

The key question now is how Hungary and Slovakia will respond. When EU ambassadors discussed the issue in Brussels on March 10, Budapest requested more time, stating it had no official position on the latest council proposal. With ambassadors set to meet again on March 12 and March 14, the deadline for sanctions renewal on March 15 is getting perilously close, leaving little room for further maneuver.

Few officials RFE/RL has talked to believe that Hungary will settle for only the four delistings proposed by the council. Ultimately, the other EU member states may be forced to agree to the removal of additional names to secure a compromise.

In the meantime, officials are exploring alternatives in case the negotiations collapse entirely. One option would be for most member states to impose sanctions at the national level.

However, this approach faces two key challenges.

First, not all European Union countries have national sanctions frameworks, relying instead on EU-level measures.

Second, if Hungary and Slovakia refuse to uphold the sanctions, blacklisted individuals could still enter the bloc through these countries, meaning the restrictions will lack effect.