EU Sanctions On Russia
Context:
- The EU agreed on Wednesday to add 160 Russian business people and lawmakers to its sanctions blacklist, target crypto-assets and hit the maritime sector over Moscow’s war in Ukraine, officials said.
About:
- The 27-nation bloc also gave the go-ahead to cut three Belarusian banks from the global SWIFT messaging system over Minsk’s support for the Kremlin’s attack.
- The EU is looking to close off loopholes in the unprecedented barrage of sanctions it unleashed along with Western allies after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion.
- A statement said 146 members of Russia’s Upper House of Parliament and 14 Kremlin-linked business people and their relatives would be added to the assets freeze and visa ban blacklist.
- The bloc will also broaden restrictions to cover cryptocurrencies in a bid to prevent sanctioned individuals and companies using the encrypted digital systems to circumvent the sanctions.
- Kremlin ally Belarus has been used as a key launchpad for Moscow’s offensive and the EU is also stepping up measures against the country.
Global SWIFT messaging system:
- The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication(SWIFT), legally W.I.F.T. SC, is a Belgian Cooperative Society providing services related to the execution of Financial Transactions and payments between banks worldwide.
- Its principal function is to serve as the main messaging network through which international payments are initiated.
- It also sells software and services to financial institutions, mostly for use on its proprietary “SWIFTNet”, popularly known as “SWIFT codes”.
Source: THE HINDU
