EU Commission Sanctions Against Russian Oil Divide Europe

On Wednesday, the head of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen's made an announcement of a proposal to eliminate Russian oil deliveries over a six-month period and crude oil products by the end of the year. However, the 27 countries of the bloc must agree, likewise, disagreements have surfaced.

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Under the pretext of the Russian military operation in Ukraine -started last February 24-, the EU, together with the United States and other countries, is implementing hundreds of coercive measures of an economic nature, which aim to reduce Moscow's strength by attacking all sectors with an escalation to unprecedented levels.

However, until now, hydrocarbons were exempted from penalties due to the severe impact that this could have on the community block, hence the application of the sixth punitive package has as a distinctive mark its progressive implementation.

Such is the negative economic impact for Europe that the head of the European Commission (EC), Ursula Von der Leyen, assured that the regulations will be implemented after ensuring alternative supply routes in order to minimize their consequences for global markets, although without explaining how these objectives will be achieved.

Of course, sanctioning oil imports from Russia does not have the same consequences for the Old Continent as penalizing gas imports, on which nations such as Hungary are highly dependent and have already shown strong opposition.

Since mid-April, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that possible sanctions on his country's energy sector could lead to an increase in hydrocarbon supplies to other regions of the world, and warned of the effects that millions of Europeans would suffer - a sort of boomerang effect.

Von der Leyen insists on the policy of sanctions and on the elimination of Russian gas, in addition to pressuring so that no one agrees to pay in rubles, as Moscow demanded in view of the impossibility of accessing its blocked currencies.

In March, US President Joseph Biden and Von der Leyen announced that Washington would supply the EU this year with some 15 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas to supply the Eurasian nation.

However, an article in The New York Times warned that the plan "will be largely symbolic, at least in the short term", due to the fact that the conditions are not created for that volume of exports, neither from one side nor the other.

For the EU, buying gas from the United States means acquiring it 40 percent more expensively than Russian gas, an unfavorable deal that will not only increase Washington's economic profits, but also its political influence, by increasing European dependence.