How Austria and Greece Are Trying to Undermine European Sanctions Against the Aggressor State

While Ukrainian soldiers are holding back the onslaught and defending Europe from Rashism at the cost of their own lives, European solidarity in some EU capitals is capitulating to blood money. Another attempt by Brussels to increase economic pressure on the aggressor state has encountered cynical internal sabotage. EU representatives failed to agree on a new, 21st package of sanctions, postponing negotiations until at least July 22–23, 2026.

This time, Greece and Austria have emerged as the main advocates for blood-tainted business, effectively blackmailing the EU in order to preserve their excess profits from cooperation with the adversary.

For Greece, the main stumbling block was the EU’s intention to prohibit European companies from transporting and transshipping liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the aggressor state to third countries. Athens, which controls Europe’s largest civilian fleet of LNG carriers and competes for global leadership with the United States, China, and Japan, issued a tough ultimatum. Behind the attractive rhetoric about the “competitiveness of European business” lies blatant lobbying for the interests of oligarchs profiting from logistics for the enemy.

According to the Financial Times, the business of the Greek company Dynagas, owned by shipping magnate Georgios Prokopiou, was at risk. The figures and facts are striking:

Dynagas owns 27 supertankers, including one-third of the world’s fleet of unique Arc7 ice-class vessels.
Each of these vessels costs approximately $300 million and was specifically built for the Russian Yamal LNG project. Technically, they cannot be redirected to other routes.
Since the beginning of 2025 alone, these Greek tankers have made 144 voyages and transported more than 10 million tonnes of LNG from the aggressor state’s territory.

Athens is effectively blocking the sanctions because it fears that, if the ban is introduced, it would have to sell these vessels to non-European companies at a substantial loss, thereby losing control over a highly profitable segment of the gas transportation market.

The Austrian case is no less significant: the country is defending the multibillion-euro interests of a bank that continues to operate in the adversary’s market.

While Greece is seeking to preserve maritime transportation for the aggressor state, Austria is blocking sanctions out of purely financial self-interest, attempting to protect Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), which continues to pay substantial taxes into the adversary’s budget.

Vienna has presented Brussels with an ultimatum demanding that one of the adversary’s investment companies be removed from the sanctions lists. The purpose of this pressure is to unfreeze approximately €2 billion in European assets belonging to the entity. The Austrian authorities intend to use these funds to pay compensation and cover losses incurred by Raiffeisen Bank, which has still not withdrawn from the aggressor state’s market.

The consequences of the Greek and Austrian demarches are clear: russia gains time and money. While individual EU members bargain over their own economic interests, the aggressor state is adapting its economy and logistics to the new conditions.

Moreover, in an effort to avoid market chaos amid the escalation of the conflict surrounding Iran, Brussels was forced, against the backdrop of these disputes, to set a price cap on Russian oil at $44.10 per barrel. Without internal divisions, these restrictions could have been significantly tougher.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys sharply criticized this position, emphasizing that no economic concerns or private profits can take precedence over the security of the European continent.