BRUSSELS, October 17. /TASS/. The only thing Brussels has managed to achieve through its anti-Russian sanctions is to make more enemies for the EU worldwide, a trend that is likely to continue, Thierry Mariani, a French member of the European Parliament, said on Tuesday.

"Let us recall the first months of the war in Ukraine. Ministers of the Macron government and European Commission officials explained to us that their sanctions would bring Russia to its knees. They promised to send Russia back to the Stone Age but, in actuality, it is our families who are suffering from the devastating inflation and the huge growth in energy prices. The European Union is working on a 12th package of anti-Russian sanctions when the blacklists already contain 1,800 people. Even Mr. [EU foreign policy chief Josep] Borrell should have admitted back in March 2023 that the European Union had maxed things out in this sphere," he said at the European Parliament session’s hearings on anti-Russian sanctions.

According to Mariani, the EU sanctions have only made problems worse in Africa, Asia, and South America.

"And now, you suggest that measures be taken against those who are bypassing the sanctions, despite the fact that month after month we have been buying billions of tons of fuels from Russia (via third countries - TASS). Let alone our nuclear sector, which depends on Russia as much as it depends on the US. In a word, the only thing the European Union has managed to achieve during this crisis is to make more enemies, and this trend will continue," he said, commenting on European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders’ allegations that the anti-Russian sanctions are working.