Contents tagged with EU

  • Hungary demands that certain Russian oligarchs be removed from EU sanctions list

    Hungary demands that three Russian oligarchs be excluded from the EU sanctions list. Otherwise, it threatens to block the extension of some parts of the EU sanctions regime against Russia, reported the correspondent of Radio Liberty Rikard Jozwiak, citing diplomatic sources.

    According to Jozwiak, Budapest calls for the removal of Alisher Usmanov, Pyotr Aven and Viktor Rashnikov from the sanctions list.

    Hungary is also asking for an exception for humanitarian organizations so that they can do …

  • Russia blames western sanctions for disrupted deliveries of gas to Europe

    According to the The Kremlin, problems with the supply of Russian gas through the Nord Stream pipeline will persist until Western sanctions are lifted.

    "Problems in delivery arose because of the sanctions imposed against our country and against a number of companies by Western states, including Germany and the UK. There are no other reasons that would lead to problems with delivery," said Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

    According to Peskov, "one pumping station is working. …

  • Five EU countries threaten to restrict entry of Russians into the Schengen area

    In a joint statement, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Finland and Estonia demanded that the European Commission propose "appropriate measures on visas" that "will decisively reduce the flow of Russian citizens to the European Union and the Schengen area," the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, August 31. "Until such measures are taken at the EU level, we will consider the possibility of introducing temporary measures at the national level to address urgent public security issues related to the …

  • Estonia intends to demand that the EU stops issuing visas to Russians

    The Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is preparing proposals to the European Union to stop issuing visas to Russian citizens, said Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu on the air of ETV.

    "The bottom line is that the European Union should stop issuing regular visas to Russian citizens. There are humanitarian cases. For example, associates of Alexei Navalny, they would be considered separately," Reinsalu said.

    "But it's really funny that Russian citizens are now traveling en masse across …

  • EU freezes 13.8 billion euros of Russian assets

    Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine which started on February 24, the European Union has frozen 13.8 billion euros of Russian assets, said the European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders.

    "At the moment, we have frozen 13.8 billion euros belonging to oligarchs and other organizations. So this is quite a large amount," he said.

    According to Reynders, most of these funds- more than 12 billion euros – were frozen in five EU member countries.

    He added that he …

  • Ukraine sends proposal to EU on the seventh package of anti-Russian sanctions

    Ukraine has sent to the European Union its proposals for the seventh sanctions package against Russia, said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba during a press briefing.

    According to Kuleba, Ukraine's proposal has 3 parts.

    "The first direction is new sectoral sanctions in the field of energy, finance and trade. The second is a roadmap for new personal sanctions against Russian oligarchs, high-ranking officials and heads of state-owned companies. The third is the closure of already …

  • EU President: six sanctions packages will destroy Putin's financial foundation

    Six packages of EU sanctions against Russia will destroy the financial foundation of Russian President Vladimir Putin and will hit the Russian economy hard, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

    "Most importantly, there are six big sanctions packages. These sanctions are biting hard and really destroying the financial basis of Putin, who is waging this war, and are hitting the Russian economy hard," von der Leyen said at a press conference following a special meeting of the …

  • EU promises Moldova military assistance

    The European Union will expand its defense assistance to Moldova. "This year we want to significantly increase our support to Moldova and provide the armed forces of this country with additional military equipment," said European Council President Charles Michel during a visit to Chisinau on Wednesday.

    "Our European duty is to help and support your country," the head of the European Council said at a meeting with Moldovan President Maia Sandu. He promised to further deepen the partnership with …

  • Four EU states expel Russian diplomats

    The Netherlands, Belgium, the Czech Republic, and Ireland have all announced that they are expelling a number of Russian diplomats.

    The Russian ambassador in Amsterdam was summoned to the Dutch Foreign Ministry on Tuesday and was informed that 17 Russian diplomats were being expelled because they had engaged in espionage-related activities, Dutch public radio reported.

    Belgium, likewise, announced that 21 Russian diplomats were being expelled for participating in “espionage and influence …

  • EU slams sanctions on Putin and Lavrov, threatens to disconnect Russia from SWIFT in the coming days

    The European Union imposes sanctions against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, said EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell.

    "This is an important step. Let me note that the only world leaders who have fallen under EU sanctions are Assad from Syria, Lukashenko from Belarus and now Putin from Russia," he said.

    "Putin is not the people of Russia," Borrell said, recalling that together with Putin and Lavrov, a …