Thursday, December 16, 2021
When invading Ukraine
EU threatens Russia with retaliation
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The 27 EU members speak with one voice: They warn Moscow against attacking Ukraine again. If Russia nevertheless invades the neighboring country, sanctions are planned. These could shut down the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and hit Russia’s financial sector hard.
As expected, the 27 EU heads of state and government sent a clear warning to Russia at the EU summit. Further military aggression against Ukraine would have “massive consequences and high costs,” it said in a declaration. Sanctions coordinated with partners were cited as an example. Russia urgently needs to defuse the tensions caused by the troop deployment on the border with Ukraine and aggressive rhetoric.
The EU fully supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the other heads of state and government left open which sanctions could be involved.
According to diplomats, sanctions against state companies and oligarchs close to President Vladimir Putin are being discussed. In addition, an operating ban for the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany and the exclusion of Russia from the Swift payment system are options. The latter in particular could have far-reaching consequences, as Swift processes messages and financial transactions over secure networks for more than 11,000 financial institutions worldwide. If banks are no longer able to use Swift, this can have fatal consequences for their businesses, as they are effectively excluded from the global financial system.
A critical passage on Belarus and the migration crisis was also decided. In it, the 27 emphasize that they want to fight people smuggling, protect the EU’s external border and support the return of people stranded in Belarus to their home countries. The deportation of migrants across the EU border to Poland, for example, supported by the Belarusian leadership, is known as a “hybrid attack”.
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