Which countries blocked EU's 21st sanctions package and what Ukraine's friends won in return

The European Union has finally approved its 21st package of sanctions against Russia. For just over a month, nearly one-third of EU member states threatened to veto the package.

Each country eventually dropped its veto in exchange for a concession, effectively weakening parts of the sanctions package originally proposed by the European Commission.

Read more about the negotiations surrounding the 21st sanctions package and what was ultimately included in it in the article by Tetiana Vysotska, a European Pravda journalist: Compromises for sanctions: How EU agreed on a new wave of pressure on Russia and what had to be given up.

Bulgaria was the first country to block the package, demanding that Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, be removed from the sanctions list.

Italy later joined Bulgaria, apparently influenced by the Vatican's opposition to imposing what it viewed as "political" sanctions on religious figures.

As a result, Patriarch Kirill was removed from the proposed sanctions list.

He was removed alongside Vagit Alekperov, founder of Russia's Lukoil, and the head of a Russian company that not only supplies Russia's defence industry but also provides metro components for Bulgaria's capital, Sofia.

Next came the issue of Russian military personnel.

France, Italy and, less publicly, several other Mediterranean tourist destinations refused to support a complete ban on Russian combatants entering the EU.

As a result, Russian soldiers may still be able to vacation on the French Riviera. The final sanctions package contains only an intention to consider an entry ban at some point in the future.

Then came fish.

Germany, the Netherlands, France and Poland succeeded in removing the entire "fish section" from the sanctions package for the time being.

The original proposal sought to ban imports of Russian cod into the EU and significantly restrict imports of other Russian fish products.

Austria was the second-to-last country to lift its objections.

Vienna's demand was not new: it wanted a Russian investment company removed from the existing sanctions list so that its frozen assets could potentially be used to compensate losses suffered by Austrian banking giant Raiffeisen, which continued operating in Russia after the full-scale invasion.

Raiffeisen has incurred losses exceeding €2 billion after Russian authorities seized its assets through court rulings. The bank now hopes to recover some of those losses through the European subsidiary of a company linked to Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska.

This was Austria's condition for dropping its veto threat. However, unlike other countries, Austria received only a promise that its request would be considered.

Greece blocked the sanctions package until the very last day – 23 July.

Athens demanded that the proposed ban on transporting Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to third countries be removed.

The concern was well-founded: such a measure could have severely affected Dynagas, a Greek shipping company specialising in transporting Russian Arctic LNG.

Once it became clear that Greece would not back down, the EU reached a compromise.

Greek companies will receive an exemption allowing them to transport Russian LNG to third countries under contracts signed before 24 February 2022, the day Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

As a result, Dynagas, one of Russia's long-standing LNG shipping partners, can continue operating under those contracts for at least another year. The exemption is scheduled for review afterwards, and extending it would again require unanimous EU approval.

Despite all of these compromises, the EU's 21st sanctions package is still widely viewed as a significant blow to Russia's economy.

The final package includes sanctions on: major Russian regional banks, several foreign banks accused of helping Russia circumvent sanctions, cryptocurrency operators, vessels belonging to Russia's "shadow fleet", oil refineries, companies involved in drone production.