The EU diplomats involved in the discussions assume that the package could be submitted next week the earliest. Joseph Borell said, however, that this issue will be discussed during the UE summit that will be held at the ned of May, and he does not expect any final decision in this matter until that time.

It is estimated that the most effective sanction would be a ban on import of oil, as in the case of the embargo imposed by the UE on the Russian coal last month. According to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Europe has paid Russia 14 billion euro for oil. Suspending the purchase of Russian oil would deprive Russia of the essential income source. The biggest recipient of this natural resource in Europe is Germany, Poland and the Netherlands.

While Ukraine and a number of EU member states, among others, Poland and Baltic countries demanded the ban on importing the Russian oil and gas, Germany and Hungary were the loudest opponents of this solution. They argued that it could seriously impair their own economies. Recently, however, Budapest has mitigated their objection. Gergely Gulyás, head of the Prime Minister’s office said last week that the Hungarian government would like to see what proposals were on the table and whether those proposals included alternatives for the substitutes of the natural resources from Russia”. However, Gulyás underlined that he still considered the gas embargo as “pointless”. There are many signs that also the attitude of Berlin has changed. “After weeks of hard work, Germany is very close to the possibility of getting rid entirely of the Russian oil” German minister for climate and economy Rober Habeck has announced.