Austria Stalls EU’s Russia Sanctions Over Raiffeisen Dispute
Austria has broken ranks with its European Union partners, blocking the bloc’s planned 19th sanctions package against Russia and leaving itself isolated among all 26 other member states.
According to EU diplomats, Vienna is demanding an exemption for Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), which seeks to acquire roughly €2 billion in Strabag shares frozen under sanctions. The shares are currently owned by the Russian firm Rasperia, and the bank argues they should be released so the transfer can proceed.
In a statement to APA, Austria’s EU mission defended its stance as pragmatic, not political. “Austria continues to support Ukraine and the sanctions regime against Russia,” the mission said. “But sanctions must not, through unintended effects, end up benefiting the aggressor twice.”
Yet diplomats in Brussels see the holdup as a Vienna-made problem, noting that even Slovakia, long skeptical of EU sanctions has sided with the majority. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico’s requests for more competitiveness and lower energy costs at next week’s summit were deemed negotiable. Austria’s conditions, by contrast, were “flatly rejected” by every other EU capital.
The dispute now threatens to delay the entire sanctions package, which includes bans on Russian LNG imports, new financial restrictions, export controls on dual-use goods, and blacklists for 45 companies and 118 ships linked to Moscow’s war effort.
If Austria maintains its veto, the issue may be escalated to the EU leaders’ summit in Brussels next week; an outcome diplomats say could embarrass Vienna and frustrate allies eager to keep pressure on the Kremlin.
