Belarus, accused by the EU of “complicity” in the Russian offensive, is also targeted.
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These decisions aim to “complete” the three sets of measures already adopted by the European Union (EU) over the past two weeks. The Twenty-Seven have decided on Wednesday March 9 to extend their sanctions against Moscow and Minsk in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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Fourteen oligarchs and businessmen involved in key sectors of the Russian economy (agriculture, steel, telecoms…) and members of their families, as well as 146 members of the Council of the Federation of Russia (upper house of the Russian Parliament ) are added to the list of persons and entities banned from entering the EU and whose assets in Europe are frozen. In total, the European blacklist, established since the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, now includes a total of 862 people and 53 entities.
The Member States have also decided to ban the export to Russia of parts and technologies intended for the maritime sector, in particular in radiocommunications, in order to penalize the means of transport and the freight of the country, after having already targeted the air sector. .
Belarus, accused by the EU of “complicity” in the Russian offensive, is also targeted. The Twenty-Seven also decided to disconnect three Belarusian banks from the Swift international system, a secure platform allowing operations such as the transit of payment orders and funds transfer orders between banks. Since late February, seven Russian banks have been disconnected from Swift. The Europeans also prohibit all transactions related to the assets of the Belarusian Central Bank.