BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) – EU countries have imposed sanctions on seven politicians and businessmen with Moldovan or Russian nationality. Your assets will be frozen and there will be a travel ban in and through the European Union, as the EU Council announced on Tuesday evening in Brussels. Those now sanctioned are said to have tried to destabilize the Republic of Moldova on behalf of Russia, for example by planning violent demonstrations or by illegally exporting capital. Some of them are also accused of supporting the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, for example by collaborating with the Russian occupation authorities.
“Moldova is one of the countries most affected by the consequences of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. There are serious, intensified and ongoing attempts to destabilize the country,” said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. The sanctions are therefore an important political signal of the EU’s support for the Republic of Moldova. Almost a month ago, at Moldova’s request, the EU countries created a legal framework for such sanctions.
Tensions have repeatedly flared up between Moscow and Chisinau in recent months. Russia sees the country as a “near foreign country” as part of its natural sphere of influence. International observers have the Russian President Wladimir Putin recently, however, accused of wanting to destabilize the situation in the EU candidate country./rew/DP/stw