(Adnkronos) – Green light in Coreper, the committee of permanent representatives of the EU member states, to the new package of sanctions against Russia for the war in Ukraine. Two member states, according to reports in Brussels, still have to go through their respective national parliaments, but these steps are not considered obstacles. The seventeenth package includes a crackdown on the so-called Russian ‘shadow fleet’ (almost 200 ships are affected, including oil tankers), used by Moscow to circumvent the oil price cap that the West has tried to impose.
About 30 companies are added, involved in sanctions evasion, particularly in the dual-use, civil and military goods sector. These companies will face new trade restrictions. There are then another 75 individual sanctions for people and companies linked to the Russian military-industrial complex. The legal basis is also provided to sanction the fleet that destroys submarine cables, airports or servers (material goods) and to sanction those who financially facilitate the war effort. A new legal basis is outlined for Russian propaganda channels: over 20 entities and individuals who spread disinformation are affected.
For human rights violations (Navalny Act), sanctions are envisaged against judges and prosecutors involved in the Navalny and Kara Murza cases (20 individuals in all). In the field of chemical weapons, the export of substances used in the production of missiles is prohibited. The sanctions package passed as point one, without discussion, diplomatic sources report: it should be formally adopted by the Foreign Affairs Council next Monday, May 20.
