EU eyes tariffs, capital controls if Hungary blocks extended sanctions on Russia

Financial Times reported the information, citing five officials familiar with the talks.

According to the sources, the European Commission has told EU member states that a large part of the sanctions, especially the €200 billion in frozen Russian state assets, could be moved to another legal basis to get around Hungary’s veto.

Capital controls that would stop money from flowing into Russia, along with trade measures like tariffs, are among the options the Commission has mentioned in recent weeks.

Other possible steps include import bans and price caps in sectors like energy. These alternatives would not need the unanimous backing of all 27 EU countries, which is normally required to extend sanctions.

They are all focused on "plan A", but alternative legal bases are being discussed in parallel, one of the officials said.

At a meeting of all 27 EU ambassadors on Monday, May 12, Budapest did not raise major objections to the new sanctions package, according to three diplomats. The 17th sanctions package — targeting companies in China and other countries that help Russia get around existing sanctions — is expected to be approved on Wednesday, May 14, and formally adopted early next week.