France and Slovakia press Brussels to delist Russian tycoon Usmanov

France has joined Slovakia in asking the European Union to remove Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov from its official sanctions list. The joint stance brings Paris alongside Bratislava in pressing for the tycoon's delisting from the EU's targeted sanctions framework.

EU sanctions are intended to exert economic pressure on individuals linked to foreign aggression or destabilisation. For ordinary European citizens, these measures represent the bloc's primary geopolitical instrument short of military force. However, maintaining these targeted measures requires constant political agreement among member states. When capitals seek to remove a high-profile figure, it underscores the tension between holding a firm diplomatic line and navigating the legal and strategic criteria that keep individual names on the blacklist.

In Brussels, an EU sanctions list is less of an indelible ledger and more of a recurring diplomatic negotiation. Under EU rules, sanction entries must be renewed periodically by the Council of the European Union—the body representing the twenty-seven national governments—and any extension or modification requires absolute unanimity. This design means that making a sanctions list is often simpler than maintaining one, as a single state's resistance can trigger prolonged bargaining. Having France, a major member state, align with Slovakia on a delisting request creates immediate work for Council working parties, forcing diplomats to balance legal vulnerability against institutional cohesion.

The delisting proposal will be scrutinised by national diplomats in the Council's working groups and inside Coreper—the Committee of Permanent Representatives where ambassadorial bargaining occurs. EU member states must reach a consensus ahead of the next formal sanctions renewal deadline. If all twenty-seven member states agree, the decision will be published in the Official Journal of the EU; if consensus fails, diplomats face a crunch negotiation to prevent a broader deadlock on the sanctions package.