BRUSSELS, July 16 — Greece has blocked the European Union’s 21st sanctions package against Russia, the latest demonstration of a mechanism built into the bloc’s founding treaties that gives each of the 27 member states a unilateral veto over foreign policy decisions. The unanimity requirement, established under the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 and codified in the Treaty on European Union, means that any single country can halt sanctions altogether. Greece follows Hungary and Cyprus, which earlier vetoed other measures.
The mechanics here are straightforward but consequential: one member state’s objection stops the entire process cold.
The veto mechanism and its consequences
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has criticised the unanimity rule and proposed moving to qualified majority voting on sanctions to speed up decision-making. The catch, on closer reading, is that such a change would itself require a treaty amendment — and treaty amendments need unanimous approval from all member states. So the very countries that benefit from the veto would have to vote to surrender it.
The Greek veto now forces the EU into one of three paths: renegotiate the package to address Athens’ objections, delay adoption indefinitely, or find alternative ways to enforce restrictions outside the formal sanctions framework. Each option carries its own political and legal complications.
Slowing the response to Russia
This dynamic has slowed the EU’s response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022. Since then, the bloc has managed to adopt 20 previous sanctions packages — a number that reflects the difficulty of securing consensus among 27 governments with divergent economic interests, historical relationships with Moscow, and domestic political pressures. Follow the money: each veto typically reflects specific national interests.
Hungary’s earlier objections often centred on energy dependencies and bilateral deals. Cyprus has raised concerns about the impact on its financial services sector.
Greece’s reasons for blocking the 21st package have not been detailed in the available source material, but the pattern is consistent — individual member states use the veto to extract concessions or protect particular industries. The unanimity rule was designed to ensure that no member state could be forced into a foreign policy position against its will. But the trade-off, as von der Leyen and other EU officials have pointed out, is speed and decisiveness.
A bloc that must negotiate every sanctions package past 27 potential veto points cannot move as quickly as a single state or a body that decides by majority.
What to watch next
The coming weeks will show whether EU diplomats can resolve the Greek objection through negotiation or whether the 21st package will be shelved. The broader question — whether the EU can reform its decision-making on sanctions — remains open, but the procedural reality is that any change requires the consent of the very countries that have used the veto to block past measures.
