Austria relents and supports new EU sanctions package against Russia

After initially rejecting the proposal, Austria announced on Monday that it would support the 19th EU sanctions package against Russia.

In recent weeks, agreement had been blocked mainly due to Vienna's demand that the EU release frozen Russian assets to compensate for the damage suffered by Raiffeisen Bank, which was affected by the Russian sanctions. However, the other member states did not agree with this.

The new sanctions package includes energy and financial policy measures, including a ban on Russian liquefied natural gas from January 1, 2027. The original date was one year later.

Slovakia also has reservations about the package, but according to diplomatic sources, a letter from the European Commission is expected to address Slovakia's concerns.

(reuters, mja)