Sanctions petitioner: Denmark will help strengthen restrictions against the Russian Federation

Russia has no positive expectations from Denmark during its presidency of the EU Council, Vladislav Maslennikov, director of the Department of European Affairs at the Russian Foreign Ministry, told Izvestia. Copenhagen will promote the toughest possible sanctions against Moscow, the Russian Embassy in Denmark told Izvestia. Restrictions may affect energy exports, and the kingdom also plans to seek increased support for Kiev, the diplomats stressed. Denmark may be even tougher on this issue than Poland. During the six months of Warsaw's presidency, two sets of sanctions were adopted, but Poland did not achieve its goals due to internal problems in unification. In particular, the EU countries were unable to agree on the 18th list of measures. See the Izvestia article about how the Danish presidency of the EU Council will affect Russia.

What are Denmark's goals for the EU

During the Danish presidency of the European Union in the second half of 2025, sanctions pressure on Russia should not be expected to ease, the Russian Embassy in the kingdom told Izvestia.

—Copenhagen stands for the toughest possible sanctions against Russia, advocates a total refusal by EU member states from importing Russian energy resources and the introduction of new restrictions on tankers that transport Russian oil,— the diplomats told Izvestia.

Russia does not expect anything good from Denmark as chairman of the EU Council, said Vladislav Maslennikov, director of the Department of European Affairs at the Russian Foreign Ministry.

"We don't have any positive expectations from Denmark, given its position towards Russia," he told Izvestia.

The policy of supporting Kiev will also continue. Denmark is calling for Russia's defeat in Ukraine. The kingdom's prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, declares that a Russian victory would be a "disaster."

"Denmark is one of the main sponsors of the Kiev regime and, from the position of its presidency, will undoubtedly seek to increase military, political and economic support for Ukraine from both the European Union as a whole and its member states individually," the Russian Embassy concluded.

It should be recalled that each of the 27 member states of the association receives the presidency of the EU Council in turn. The States standing next to each other come together in threes and work together to develop an agenda that is common to all in order to ensure continuity for a year and a half. This is how the coherence of Brussels' policy is achieved, despite the change of the dominant country.

The Presidency of the Council of the European Union may determine the agenda of meetings and the procedure for submitting proposals formulated by the European Commission. In addition, the Chairman is looking for a compromise to ensure that decisions are made. It is important that the head of the EU Council has privileged access to information and can promote discussions on issues of interest to the country.

Copenhagen will become the president of the EU Council on July 1 and will transfer this status to Cyprus on December 31. Poland presided over the first half of 2025, its predecessor was Hungary. Budapest has actively taken initiatives to resolve the crisis in Ukraine. For example, in July 2024, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban visited Kiev, Moscow, Beijing and Washington, offering options for a peaceful settlement. Budapest's actions then provoked an angry reaction from Brussels.

Denmark's priority during the presidency will be to build up the EU's defense, support Kiev and negotiations on joining the European Union with Ukraine, Moldova and a number of Balkan countries, Danish Minister for European Affairs Maria Bjerre said. Recall that Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, whose independence the Russian Federation does not recognize, North Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro now want to join the EU in the Balkans. Copenhagen plans to increase funding for training programs for Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers and invest in the Ukrainian military-industrial complex. The main thing that Denmark hopes for is to ensure continued support for Kiev in 2026 and beyond.

The kingdom has a long-term support program for Ukraine, and Denmark has allocated about $1.35 billion for military assistance to Kiev in 2025. In total, since the beginning of its support has amounted to about $7.5 billion.

Another priority of the Danish presidency will be to tighten the EU's migration policy, political analyst Vadim Trukhachev said in an interview with Izvestia. With the help of its position, Copenhagen will try to draw the attention of Brussels to the problem of US claims to Greenland.

— As for Russia, the EU policy will not change here, because the Danes treat Moscow very badly. Denmark is closing the exit from the Baltic Sea, so there may be an attempt to ban the passage of Russian vessels or introduce mandatory inspection, the expert believes.

Back in 2024, the head of the kingdom's Foreign Ministry, Lars Loekke Rasmussen, said that Copenhagen plans to restrict the passage of tankers with Russian oil. Danish ministers will preside over meetings of relevant EU councils at the ministerial level, so they can propose such initiatives to their colleagues in the European Union.

In addition, Denmark will have to convince Hungary to lift its veto on the start of negotiations with Kiev on joining the EU. Earlier, Budapest blocked the adoption by the EU summit of the final statement on Ukraine, the main point of which was a paragraph instructing the EU Council to begin negotiations on Kiev's admission to the union. Another point in the draft final statement of the summit, which Hungary opposed, was a section calling for new military assistance to Ukraine and security guarantees. Due to the position of Budapest and Bratislava, the EU countries could not agree on the 18th package of anti-Russian restrictions, now Copenhagen will decide this issue.

How did Poland's EU presidency go?

During the Polish presidency of the EU Council, Brussels adopted two sets of sanctions against Russia: the 16th was approved in February and the 17th in May. At the same time, most of the restrictions are directed against banks, ships carrying oil, and individuals. The EU has not imposed major restrictions on Russian economic sectors, and they are already affected by the sanctions.

The main part of the European restrictive measures (nine packages) was introduced in 2022, with further packages approved approximately every six months. In this regard, Poland's presidency has not become remarkable. Although it was precisely the sharp increase in sanctions pressure on the Russian Federation, for example, the use of frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine, that was one of Warsaw's priorities.

The Polish presidency was surprisingly lackluster, although Warsaw had high hopes for it. She was prevented by the fact that the president belongs to one of the parties, and the government belongs to the other, they are practically at enmity, Oleg Nemensky, a leading RISI expert, explained to Izvestia.

— The President belongs to the Law and Justice Party, and the government is headed by the Civil Coalition. But the main responsibility for conducting foreign policy still lies with the president. At the same time, Prime Minister Donald Tusk has it all figured out: many years of work in EU bodies and the presidency of the European People's Party help him," the expert emphasized.

The only major international event that has been held in Poland over the past six months is the Three Seas Initiative Summit. Warsaw's position in the EU is weakened by the fact that the new president, Karol Nawrocki, is a supporter of the Law and Justice party. And his attitude is even more radical. Nemensky predicts that Warsaw's European policy will be rather limited in the near future due to the conflict between the president and the government on conceptual issues.

It is also important that Denmark has no contradictions with Ukraine, unlike Poland. This will allow Copenhagen to act more freely regarding negotiations on Kiev's accession to the EU. Warsaw has a difficult relationship with him due to issues of historical memory of the Volyn massacre of 1943-1944 and the export of Ukrainian grain to the EU, which affects Polish farmers.