The Council of the European Union could be forced to defend itself in a Hamburg court in what lawyers say would be a first-of-its-kind defamation action linked to an EU sanctions decision—if an appeal now pending before Germany’s Federal Court of Justice succeeds, according to filings seen by Euronews.
The case targets the Council’s statement of reasons adopted in September 2023 for listing businessman Alisher Usmanov. Usmanov’s lawyer, Hamburg-based Joachim Steinhoefel, argues that key assertions relied on by the Council have since been shown to be unjustified.
