A new sanctions framework unveiled by the European Council focuses on individuals and entities who “undermine the EU’s values, security, and the integrity of its member states”.
Brussels has presented a new framework for sanctions against Russia, focused on fake news, election destabilisation and cyberwarfare.
The rules, agreed on Tuesday by the European Council, lets the EU target individuals and entities that work with Russia to undermine the values, security, independence and integrity of the EU and its member states.**
The new framework focuses on those spreading coordinated disinformation, sabotaging EU critical infrastructure or instrumentalising migrants, according to a statement from the Council.
It’s based on a proposal by Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief.
“These malicious activities are part of a broad coordinated hybrid campaign directed by Russia as an attempt to divide our society, destabilise and weaken the EU and its member states and our resilience as well as to undermine our support to Ukraine and its ability to defend itself”, said a press release by the Council.
Sleeper agents vs EU sanctions toolbox
Those designated under the new framework will be subject to an asset freeze, and EU citizens and companies will be forbidden from making funds available to them.
Individuals will also be subject to a travel ban, barring them from entering or transiting through the bloc.
The EU’s fears of hybrid warfare, combining conventional and digital tools, follows a warning from Russian espionage expert Michael Weiss, who on Monday testified before the US government’s Helsinki Commission about a “shadow war” conducted by Russia on NATO territory.
“Russian operatives and sleeper agents remain in Europe, planning attacks on the Paris Summer Olympics and other targets,” Weiss said.
Recent sabotage bombings in Czechia and Bulgaria were the doing of the same Russian secret service unit responsible for the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury, England, Weiss added.
According to Weiss, Russia is now emulating non-state actors like the so-called IS group, recruiting locals remotely via social media platforms like Telegram and paying them in cryptocurrency.
In response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU has sanctioned over 1,000 people deemed close to President Vladimir Putin, including oligarchs such as former Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich, and also targeted strategic economic sectors such as diamonds and gas.
Brussels has also recently developed tools to deal with hybrid warfare, which in May the Council warned posed a growing threat to security.
