Bloomberg compared the Baltic countries to the “hawkish” EU

The publication included Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland and the UK in the group of so-called “hawks” - states that most actively insist on putting pressure on the Kremlin through sanctions. They have already supported extending the standard year-long sanctions period for another 5 months.

However, the zeal of the “hawks” is not enough. The fact is that to extend sanctions or impose new ones, the consent of all 28 EU member countries is required.

According to Bloomberg, 7 countries of the European Union can immediately oppose the extension of sanctions: Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Spain, Cyprus, Italy and Greece. The agency came to this conclusion based on the schedule of visits of the leaders of these countries to Russia.

“For evidence of the EU's waning appetite for sanctions against Russia, look at Vladimir Putin's guest book,” writes Bloomberg. It is noted that Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades already visited the Russian leader in February, allowing access for the Russian fleet to ports, and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi visited him in March (Putin called him a “privileged partner”).

In this regard, some politicians believe that the new “anti-sanctions bloc” will make its presence known at the EU summit, which will be held on March 19-20 in Brussels.