The deployment of Swift has been divided among EU member states in recent days, but under great political and social pressure, the last hesitant member states have finally agreed. It is a compromise: not all Russian banks are thrown out of Swift. Experts expect major consequences for Russia’s economy, but also for Europe’s imports and exports.
The EU is working together with the Americans, British and Canadians when using the equine drug. With the new sanctions package, the West wants to further prevent the Russian Central Bank from using its international assets to mitigate the impact of sanctions.
According to Bloomberg news agency, this involves $643 billion in assets of the Russian Central Bank in the EU and US. More measures will also be taken against the Putin clique. Among other things, Brussels wants to prevent Russian oligarchs from buying a ‘golden passport’. Von der Leyen: “It would allow wealthy Russians with ties to the Moscow government to become citizens of our countries and gain access to our financial systems.”
It is the third time in a week that Brussels has imposed sanctions over Putin’s war against Ukraine. On Sunday evening, the EU foreign ministers will discuss the new sanction proposals during an emergency digital meeting. All member states must agree, but after all the signals from government cities, that seems only a formality.