Who sits at the table, and who can stop it
European Union ambassadors again failed to agree the six-month renewal of individual sanctions imposed over Russia's war on Ukraine, and left the matter to Monday. The decision in force expires on 15 September. France wants the Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov removed from the list; Slovakia has long sought the removal of both Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman and insists on keeping the six-month timeframe. The regime covers more than 3,000 individuals and entities linked to Russia's war.[1]
Renewal requires unanimity. That rule turns a technical step repeated every six months into something a single capital can bargain over: the list is voted with the price of one name attached. Paris presented its request as a political compromise; on the other side of the scale, the choice left to the remaining members narrows to accepting it or letting the decision expire.[1]
Four diplomats described the move. One said the motivation raised a lot of questions and that economic reasons seemed mostly to be at play. France has published no reasoning of its own; on the substance of the request, the only reading available is the assessment of diplomats who are not named.[1]
The difference between a majority and unanimity
In July this column read a vote of 144 against 10 as the durability of an institution: the great powers that objected could not change the outcome. A decision resting on every member's consent does not carry that durability; there a single objection is enough to change the outcome.[2]
Monday is when the matter returns. If the decision is renewed before 15 September, the names that remain on the list will show the price of the request; if it is not renewed, the decision in force will lapse. The signal to watch is simple: does Alisher Usmanov's entry still stand in the published renewal?[1]