EU argues about oil embargo – these countries are blocking it

Vienna, Madrid, Stockholm, Brussels, Paris, Rome Over the past week, it has at times seemed like a European oil boycott of Russia is imminent. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that the Commission is working on further sanctions, including against oil. The European Parliament overwhelmingly called for an immediate oil and gas boycott.

Nevertheless, the topic was not officially on the agenda at the meeting of EU foreign ministers this Monday morning. The reason: the member states are at odds on the issue, and there is no sign of a quick agreement.

That didn’t stop some ministers from continuing to call for an oil boycott. Above all, the Poles and Baltics acted as a “pressure group”, it was said in Brussels. The three Baltic countries of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have already decided to completely forgo Russian oil and gas imports.

But others, such as Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney, are also becoming clearer. “We need the strongest possible sanctions,” he said before the meeting in Luxembourg. “That should include oil.”