War in Ukraine. The EU is ready to impose sanctions on Iranian drone manufacturers

Brussels

Seven Iranian organizations that supplied drones to Russia have appeared in the eyes of the Europeans. They must comply with the ban on the export of sensitive products of the tenth package of sanctions against Russia. This was announced by Ursula von der Leyen in the European Parliament on Wednesday. “There are hundreds of Iranian-made drones used by Russia on the battlefield of Ukraine. These Iranian drones are killing Ukrainian civilians…so for the first time, we are also proposing sanctions against Iran’s economic operators, including those associated with the Revolutionary Guard.“, the president of the European Commission excused himself. Before warning other countries supporting Russia. “We are ready to list other Iranian organizations and other third countries that supply sensitive technologies to Russia. That should be a big deterrent“. This new package of measures also targets Beijing, imposing greater controls on the sale of satellite data to China. This data, in fact, can then be transferred to Russia.

On Wednesday, EU ambassadors held their first meeting on the tenth package of sanctions against Russia agreed with the G7. The goal is to have it adopted no later than February 24, the first anniversary of the Ukrainian war.

New export bans

This package of measures, which amounts to 11 billion euros, envisages, in particular, new export bans to Russia of the goods and technologies that Moscow needs and that it needs to buy from third countries. These include electronics products, specialized vehicles, truck and jet engine parts, antennas and cranes, listed under “VDL:“. A rotation of the screw is also planned.export of dual purpose goods and advanced technology products“. So control will be introduced47 new electronic components used in Russian weapons systems, including drones, missiles and helicopters;“how”on rare earth materials and special thermal cameras“.

At the same time, it is expected that four other Russian banks will be cut off from the Swift system of international countries. Funds are also planned for Russians sitting on the board of directors of European joint ventures, part of whose capital is Russian, and even more so, to fight against Russian disinformation. “VDL:“convicted”an army of propagandists and disinformation networks“WTO”spread poisonous lies to polarize our societies“. One hundred individuals and organizations will also be added to the list of sanctions.

Unsurprisingly, the ambassadors of Poland and the Baltic states called for more sanctions on Russia at a meeting on Wednesday, as they have done every time since the war in Ukraine began. The next meeting of the representatives of the member states is scheduled for next Tuesday in order to reach an agreement the next day. The adoption of sanctions requires the unanimity of member states.

Member states also approved Wednesday the creation of a task force dedicated to mobilizing frozen Russian assets to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine. The goal is to see how much of this manna can be used for this purpose before legal issues arise. It will still be necessary to know who owns those assets. The EU executive is considering forcing banks to disclose information about frozen assets belonging to the Central Bank of Russia. The same applies to frozen assets of sanctioned persons and individuals. The commission threatens to impose fines on disobedient banks.