Bloomberg reports that the EU may miss the deadline to extend sanctions against Russia due to Orban's influence.

The European Union is facing reluctance from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to sign the extension of sanctions against Russia. The sanctions are set to be renewed every six months, with the current term expiring on January 31.

This information was reported by RBK-Ukraine citing Bloomberg.

On January 21, Orban again criticized the bloc's sanctions regime, stating that 15 rounds of sanctions are harming the European economy. In December, Orban mentioned that he wanted to wait for Donald Trump's inauguration before making a decision on the extension.

In the early days of his presidency, Trump showed no signs of intending to ease sanctions against Moscow, and recently stated that he is likely to impose additional measures if Vladimir Putin does not come to the negotiating table regarding Ukraine.

Sanction Extension

EU ambassadors will meet several times in the coming days to determine if they can advance the extension, which has so far involved routine debates but requires unanimous support from the 27 member states of the bloc. Several diplomats noted that there is currently no Plan B for extending the sanctions if Orban continues to block them.

If the bloc's diplomats are unable to reach an agreement on the extension this week, the issue will be referred to the foreign ministers, who are scheduled to meet in Brussels on January 27, according to sources familiar with the situation. One source mentioned that the bloc still hopes to resolve the extension issue this week.

Orban has previously threatened other measures related to Ukraine but ultimately backed down.

"It's time to throw the sanctions out the window and build relationships with the Russians without sanctions," Orban stated on January 18. "We're still far from that," he added, "but we need to work on it."

New Package

Even though the renewal is stalled, the EU continues to discuss the 16th round of sanctions, as previously reported by Bloomberg. Most of these plans will also require Budapest's support.

European Commissioner for Economy Valdis Dombrovskis stated that the EU should consider imposing additional sanctions aimed at reducing Russia's income from energy exports.

"Imports of Russian liquefied natural gas are currently actually increasing, so there are ways we can still apply more pressure on Russia," he said in Davos during a meeting focused on the Russian economy.

War Law

According to the Financial Times, the EU is considering options in case Hungary vetoes the extension of sanctions against Moscow.

Specifically, this concerns €190 billion in the Euroclear depository located in Belgium. If the sanctions are not extended, this money "will end up in Russia the next day," as there will be no grounds to hold it.

A royal decree from World War II (from 1944) may be used in this case, allowing Belgian King Philippe I to block the transfer of frozen Russian assets out of the country.