Overview
- Greece delayed the EU's 21st Russia sanctions package and secured an exemption for Dynagas that lets the firm's LNG ships keep serving non-EU buyers, a concession finalised when the package was adopted on July 23.
- The Greek hold-up blocked unrelated steps on oil export rules and broad banking asset freezes while negotiators worked out the Dynagas carve-out.
- EU officials are now discussing changing the decision process so measures are approved individually or in small thematic groups to reduce the power of a single member state to veto unrelated sanctions.
- Some diplomats and Ukraine supporters back the procedural shift to speed targeted action, while other member states warn breaking packages into pieces would weaken political solidarity and make it harder to share the economic costs of sanctions.
- The European Commission has declined to comment on a strategy change and the wider issue is framed by 21 packages adopted since the invasion, raising a clear trade-off between faster, narrower measures and preserving a unified, burden-sharing approach.