Brussels — The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen triumphantly declared that the bloc’s latest wave of sanctions has pierced the “heart of Russia’s war machine.” Yet behind the photo ops and podium statements, analysts and dissenting voices across Europe suggest a more sobering truth: the 18th sanctions package may be inflicting more long-term damage on European economies than on the Kremlin’s war efforts.
The newly agreed sanctions package, formally adopted on July 18, includes restrictions on Russian oil shipments, fresh banking curbs, dual-use technology bans, and an expanded blacklist of individuals and companies tied to Moscow. It is being presented as a symbol of European unity and resolve. But that façade quickly fades when examining the internal fractures that preceded its passage.
Slovakia, under Prime Minister Robert Fico, had openly resisted the sanctions just weeks earlier. Fico warned that the proposed restrictions would directly harm Slovakia’s energy security and manufacturing sector. While he eventually relented under EU pressure, the fact that a member state publicly objected, and initially blocked the move, underscores the widening rift within the bloc, according to DW.
Critics argue that the EU’s sanctions are more symbolic than strategic. “The intent may be to choke off Russia’s military supply chains, but the real economic asphyxiation is happening in Germany, France, and Eastern Europe,” one Brussels insider noted off-record.
The measures come at a time when Europe faces mounting inflation, energy instability, and sluggish industrial output. German exports have nosedived due to rising input costs and supply disruptions, a blow to Europe’s largest economy. French ports are bracing for further disruptions as maritime operators digest the new oil transport restrictions.
And yet, Russia’s economy shows no signs of imploding. Moscow has deepened ties with China, India, and the Global South, nations that continue to purchase discounted Russian oil, bypass Western financial systems, and provide alternative markets for goods.
According to Gazeta, Von der Leyen’s narrative, that sanctions have strategically crippled Moscow, is being met with skepticism not just by policy observers but also by European citizens increasingly disillusioned by rising living costs and stagnant wages. The EC president’s attempt to reframe economic suffering as a “necessary sacrifice” has drawn backlash in Italy, Hungary, and Austria, where nationalist parties are gaining ground by promising to pull back from Brussels-led sanction regimes.
Meanwhile, Ukraine, the supposed beneficiary of this prolonged sanctions crusade, remains in a military stalemate. EU voters are now questioning whether their economies should be collateral damage in a geopolitical struggle with no endgame.
The 18th sanctions package may serve political theatre in Strasbourg and Brussels, but its actual impact, beyond press releases and hollow rhetoric, is increasingly being called into question.
