Central Europe Reveals Holes in Tightening Net of Russia Sanctions

At the state level, while all EU countries have unanimously approved the five rounds sanctions against these Russian/Belarusian entities and individuals, they have done so with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

At one end of the sanctions-support spectrum you have Poland, which has been one of the strongest advocates for tough EU sanctions against Russia. In April, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki even urged the imposition of sanctions against all members of the Kremlin's parliamentary party United Russia. Given that at the end of 2021 United Russia had more than 2.3 million registered members, such a move would go far beyond even the Navalny list.

At the other end of the spectrum is Hungary, whose Russia-friendly prime minister is holding up the latest, sixth round of EU sanctions, principally over the vexed issue of banning Russian oil imports.

The Budapest government's general attitude towards the EU sanctions can be characterised as ambivalent at best. It expressed reservations when the European Commission included Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, and Herman Gref, CEO of Sberbank, on its sanctions list, but went along with it. But Russian Orthodox Church leader Patriarch Kirill, who is included on the sixth sanctions list for his vocal support for Putin's war, was a step too far in Orban's view.

"We do not support the inclusion of religious leaders on the sanctions list, as this goes against freedom of religion," the prime minister said in his weekly radio address on May 6.

In between Poland and Hungary are the Czech Republic and Slovakia, both of which are run by Western-oriented, EU-sanction supporting governments, who have to deal with prominent domestic pro-Russian forces ranged against them. In...