Several EU Members Call For 11th Sanctions Package Against Russia Targeting Rosatom

Several EU members, including Estonia, Lithuania and Finland, called for the 11th sanctions package against Russia, which will also target its state nuclear corporation Rosatom

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st March, 2023) Several EU members, including Estonia, Lithuania and Finland, called for the 11th sanctions package against Russia, which will also target its state nuclear corporation Rosatom.

"We need also to start to prepare the 11th package of sanctions, which should include also measures against circumvention of sanctions and I would prefer also to use mechanism of secondary sanctions against those who breach intentionally the sanction regime," Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said on Monday at the EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels.

His Finnish counterpart, Pekka Haavisto said the sanctions list should also include relatives of Russian VIPs.

"Rosatom has to be sanctioned. So, we made a new proposal to the colleagues. We call it an 'onion approach,' it has a lot of layers to choose from, we can peel those that we don't have a possibility to agree upon, but still there are things that we can sanction when it comes to Rosatom," Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said.

He also said that these measures can affect Rosatom's board members and prevent signing new contracts.

In late February, the EU introduced its 10th sanctions package against Russia, however, it did not include any direct restrictions against Rosatom. Earlier in the month, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that Budapest would not support any sanctions that would limit its nuclear cooperation with Russia, adding that Rosatom was one of the world's leading nuclear energy companies and sanctions against it could threaten global nuclear security. France and Bulgaria are also reportedly blocking the introduction of restrictive measures against the Russian nuclear giant.