By Janet Ekstract
PARİS (TURKISH JOURNAL)- An EU summit convened at Versailles, outside Paris on March10-11 met for the specific purpose of making decisions on further sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine’s bid for EU membership as well as decisions about the future of the EU’s energy and climate issues. EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the EU is working on a plan to keep Russia’s elite and the Russian state from accessing cryptocurrency to bypass sanctions on their assets. She also made it clear in her remarks on sanctions: “More will follow. This crisis is unprecedented. And so is the unity and speed of reaction our democracies have shown so far. Ukraine will prevail.”
The EU Commission head said the EU will also work to “suspend Russia’s membership rights in leading multilateral financial institutions” including the IMF and the World Bank. In a move, paralleling the U.S. – von der Leyen also commented: “We will deny Russia the status of most favored nation in our markets. This will revoke important benefits that Russia enjoys as a WTO (World Trade Organization) member.” She added that Russian companies will no longer have privileged status in the EU and reiterated: “We will ensure that Russia cannot obtain financing, loans or any other benefits from these institutions.”
In addition, von der Leyen said there will be a ban on exports of luxury goods from countries of the bloc to Russia. She remarked: “Those who sustain Putin’s war machine should no longer be able to enjoy their lavish lifestyle while bombs fall on innocent people in Ukraine.” Another major sanction will be banning Russian imports of key iron and steel products and the EU will propose a wide-ranging ban on new European investments across Russia’s energy sector. The EU Commission chief said: “This ban will cover all investments, technology transfers, financial services etc. for energy exploration and production.”
On the Ukraine’s request for EU membership, von der Leyen commented: “Ukraine is part of the European family.” She further added: “We all agree on Ukraine’s path to Europe but Ukraine will have to follow the same path to EU membership as other countries.” But the door is open for Ukraine to start the process, von der Leyen reiterated. The EU also pledged additional military aid for Ukraine. It has disbursed $327M USD in emergency macro-financial assistance to support Ukraine’s finances in the first payment of a $1.3 billion financial aid package earmarked for Ukraine.
On the question of energy dependence on Russia, von der Leyen pledged that the EU target is 2027 for achieving independence from Russia regarding gas and coal. The EU still pays an exorbitant amount of money to Russia for its fuel needs Germany said that it cannot realistically move away from its fuel needs from Russia now but stated that “we will move away” from receiving fuel from Russia, gradually.
