(Brussels) The European Union sanctioned the Russian paramilitary group Wagner on Monday as well as 8 people and 3 companies linked to it for the “destabilization actions” carried out in Ukraine and in several African countries, announced the council of the ‘EU in a press release.
The decision was unanimously approved by EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels. It was published in the Official Journal of the EU to enter into force.
The Wagner group is accused of “recruiting, training and sending private military agents to conflict zones around the world in order to fuel violence, plunder natural resources and intimidate civilians in violation of international law, including international human rights law, ”said press release.
“The persons on the EU list are implicated in serious human rights violations, including acts of torture and extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and killings, or in destabilizing activities in some of the countries where they operate, particularly in Libya, Syria, Donbass, Ukraine and the Central African Republic, ”according to the same source.
European sanctions hit the founder and military commander of the Wagner group, Dimitri Utkine, a former member of the Russian special forces, and several of his collaborators including Valery Zakharov, security advisor to the President of the Central African Republic Faustin-Archange Touadéra, Denis Kharitonov , military leader in the separatist region of Donbass in Ukraine and Andrei Troshev, director general of the group for operations in Syria.
The other four people targeted are mercenaries active in Ukraine, Syria and Libya.
Three companies linked to the Wagner group, Evro Polis, Mercury and Velada, are also targeted. They are established in Syria in the gas and oil sectors.
The sanctions consist of a visa ban for people and the freezing of assets in the EU.
“Today’s decision aims to put an end to the subversive activities of the Wagner group. It is a testament to the EU’s firm determination to defend its interests and values in its neighborhood and beyond, and to take concrete action against those who threaten international peace and security and violate international law ”, explains the Minister. communicated.
“Wagner is a private Russian military company used to destabilize security in Europe and in third countries in its neighborhood, especially in Africa,” said a European diplomat.
The EU sanctioned the Russian oligarch Yevgeny Prigojine in 2020, close to Russian power and considered the financier of the Wagner group, recalls the decision adopted on Monday by the foreign ministers.
The Wagner company is reported in several countries in sub-Saharan Africa where Russia is present, notably in Mali and the Central African Republic, but it is also active in Libya, Syria and Ukraine.
European ministers also approved on Monday a legal framework allowing them to “sanction those who obstruct the transition in Mali”.
The EU is concerned about the military junta’s willingness to use Wagner’s services. France warned Moscow that the deployment of Russian mercenaries in the Sahelo-Saharan strip would be “unacceptable”.