The EU Friday agreed to drop three Russian individuals from its sanctions list as the price for Hungary's Viktor Orban to drop a threat to veto Europe's sanctions against Russia.

Russia may be freed from EU sanctions as early as the morning of March 16 if Hungary blocks their extension. Read below why this time Budapest's purely pragmatic demands have been joined by political ones,

The European Union is bracing for a potential Hungarian veto on extending sanctions against Russia, which are set to expire on March 15, Euractiv reported on March 10, citing undisclosed sources. EU diplomats were reportedly surprised that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban did not attempt to block the conclusions of the March 6 European