Russia is gathering troops on the border with Ukraine. The EU is now adopting a clear statement. According to Chancellor Scholz, decisions on Nord Stream 2 should not be affected.
The European Union’s existing economic sanctions against Russia will be extended by a further six months due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. The EU heads of state and government agreed on this at their summit in Brussels, as French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Friday night. The EU had imposed the trade and investment restrictions despite billions in losses for domestic companies in 2014 and last extended in July to January 31 of next year. They will now apply until the end of July next year.
In addition, the EU representatives threatened Russia with retaliation in the event of an attack on Ukraine. A corresponding statement said Russia urgently needs to defuse tensions caused by the deployment of troops on the border with Ukraine and aggressive rhetoric. Any further military aggression would have “massive consequences and high costs”. Sanctions coordinated with partners were cited as an example. The EU fully supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
Operating ban for Nord Stream 2
The Chancellor left the question of what sanctions it could be Olaf Scholz (SPD) and the other heads of state and government open. According to diplomats, sanctions against state-owned companies and oligarchs close to the president are being discussed Wladimir Putin. In addition, an operating ban for the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany and the exclusion of Russia from the Swift payment system are options.
The latter in particular could have far-reaching consequences, as Swift processes messages and financial transactions over secure networks for more than 11,000 financial institutions worldwide. If banks are no longer able to use Swift, this can have fatal consequences for their business, as it will virtually exclude them from the global financial system.
Decision about Nord Stream 2 “completely apolitical”
Scholz has however spoken out against the operating permit for Nord Stream 2 with efforts to de-escalate the Ukraine crisis to link. “With regard to Nord Stream 2, it is a private sector project,” he said on Friday night. For commissioning, compliance with European law has to be clarified in one aspect. “An authority in Germany decides on this quite apolitically,” emphasized the SPD politician. This is “a different question” than the current efforts to prevent a violation of the Ukrainian borders.
Scholz described the inviolability of the borders in Europe as “one of the most important foundations of peace”. One will “do everything to ensure that this invulnerability actually remains”. In order to avoid a war, Scholz and the French President secured themselves Emmanuel Macron support for mediation efforts at the EU summit. The statement said that diplomatic efforts are being encouraged to achieve full implementation of the 2015 Minsk Agreement, particularly in the so-called Normandy format. Deterrence and dialogue is therefore the motto of the hour.
In the “Normandy Format”, Germany and France have been trying to mediate between Ukraine and Russia for years. Recently, however, there has been little progress. Both sides accuse themselves of not keeping agreements. A plan to resolve the conflict had been negotiated in the Belarusian capital, Minsk. Russia annexed the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014. It still supports separatists in eastern Ukraine to this day.
Fears of an invasion of around 100,000 soldiers
The findings that Russia has concentrated tens of thousands of soldiers in areas not far from Ukraine are of particular concern at the moment. According to information from NATO circles, it was recently between 75,000 and 100,000. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on the sidelines of a meeting with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj, one sees no signs that the military build-up is stopping or slowing down. “The opposite is the case: it goes on.”
The EU summit had already discussed the worrying corona situation in the morning. There were no far-reaching resolutions. Traveling in Europe could become more complicated again because of the rapid spread of the Omikron variant. The summit did not rule out further national requirements imposed by the member states such as compulsory testing for vaccinated persons as well. It was simply agreed that restrictions should not undermine the functioning of the internal market and should not “disproportionately” impede freedom of movement within and into the EU.
Basically, travel regulations are in the competence of the individual EU states. Countries such as Italy and Greece have tightened the test requirement for vaccinated travelers. At first, Scholz and the other heads of state and government failed to reach an agreement, despite hours of discussion about the dramatic rise in energy prices.