BRUSSELS – The Candidate Countries Montenegro and Albania, and the EFTA country Norway, member of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine have joined a six-month extension of sanctions against individuals and organizations of the Russian Federation for “undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence of Ukraine,” the EU Council said on October 5.
“The Candidate Countries Montenegro and Albania, and the EFTA country Norway, member of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine, align themselves with this Council Decision,” a statement on behalf of the Head of EU diplomacy Josep Borrell says.
“They will ensure that their national policies conform to this Council Decision,” the document says.
On September 10, the EU Council announced that it had approved a decision to extend the relevant sanctions for six months.
“The Council today decided to prolong the sanctions targeting those responsible for undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine for a further six months until 15 March 2022,” the message of the EU Council which was posted then says.
At the moment, there are 177 individuals and 48 legal entities included in the sanctions list.
The sanctions include travel restrictions to the countries of the European Union, freezing of financial assets, and a ban on the provision of funds or other economic resources to persons included in the sanctions list.
The previous time these sanctions were extended in March 2021 – until September 15. Individual EU sanctions in connection with the Ukrainian situation were first introduced on March 17, 2014.
