Page 47 - bne IntelliNews magazine February 2025

bne February 2025 Eastern Europe I 47
While the debate focuses on the current sanctions, EU member states are also discussing the 16th sanctions package. EU leaders aim to adopt it before the third anniversary of the war’s outbreak.
Despite voicing criticism about the effectiveness of sanctions, Hungary has approved all 15 sanctions against Russia and has consistently supported the EU's measures.
Hungary's ongoing resistance to aligning with joint EU foreign policy
has strained its relationship with long-time ally Poland. The previous PiS-led government had also expressed frustration with Budapest's pro-Kremlin stance.
"If Orban blocks EU sanctions, it will prove that he is siding with Vladimir Putin, with all the consequences this entails," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk posted on X.
In response, Szijjarto replied that "it may be difficult for a Soros agent to
understand, but when it comes to teams, we play for Hungary."
In related news, the Polish presidency
is considering a strategy to circumvent potential vetoes by Hungary and Slovakia on the 16th round of sanctions. These could be reclassified as a
trade policy measure, which under EU treaties requires only a qualified majority, unlike foreign and security policy decisions that mandate unanimous approval.
Poland's Tusk warns of Russian airline bomb terror campaign, promises to speed Ukraine's EU membership
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Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk warned that Russia is planning a terror campaign of bombs on “airlines around the world” at a press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during his visit to Poland on January 15.
"I will not go into details, I can only confirm the validity of fears that Russia was planning acts of air terror, not only against Poland, but against airlines around the world," Tusk said, as cited by AP.
Tusk and Zelenskiy have regularly accused the Kremlin
of acts of terrorism, targeting civilians in the war in Ukraine and assassinating spies in European capitals with radioactive tea. However, Tusk suggested the Kremlin was
planning to take its assault on Europe up to a new level by placing bombs on international air carriers.
The warning comes after Western security officials suspected Russian intelligence was behind a plot to place an incendiary device in cargo planes flying to North America. The devices were discovered after one caught fire in Germany while still on the ground and another that burst into flames in a warehouse in England last year.
Russia and Poland have been bitter enemies since WWII and frequently trade barbs. Poland's Foreign Ministry shuttered one of its three consulates in Russia last year following what it claims were arson and sabotage attacks sponsored by Moscow.
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