EU ambassadors in Brussels have agreed to add 1,646 names to the bloc’s Russia sanctions list, the largest single expansion since the measures began. The deal, approved on 7 October, targets people and organisations accused of supporting Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The new listings cover 743 individuals and 826 entities, plus 77 lawmakers who stood in September’s State Duma election held in occupied Ukrainian territory, a vote widely regarded as discredited. Negotiators needed several weeks of deliberation and legal checks because of the sheer number of names. Foreign ministers are due to give formal approval at a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday, after which the names will be published. Those listed face a travel ban, an asset freeze and a prohibition on anyone making funds available to them.
Member states wanted to show unity after a series of hybrid attacks, some of which have been blamed on Russia. The size of the package was intended to send that message clearly. Work has already started on further listings connected to a drone incident at Leipzig airport in Germany, which means the register is likely to keep growing in the months ahead.
The expansion follows a contested decision last month to remove the businessmen Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from the list. Usmanov’s removal came at France’s request and was tied to a prisoner exchange with Azerbaijan brokered with the help of Turkic states. One French citizen has been freed and a second remains in jail. In return for that concession, the EU renewed the sanctions regime for three years, an unprecedented length, and the list will soon hold almost 4,650 names. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas welcomed the renewal. She said any country can propose names but that member states take the final decision, and that the two men are unlikely to return to the list soon. “I do not see this on these two persons happening any time soon,” she said.
The Usmanov case has exposed a structural weakness in EU foreign policy, where decisions require unanimity and a single country can block action. The European Commission has proposed using the treaty’s passerelle clause to move sanctions decisions to qualified majority voting. Activating that clause, however, itself requires the agreement of every member state, so the same veto problem stands in the way of the reform.
