The recent escalation of war by Russia, including through military mobilisation and sham ‘referenda’ led to an increase of citizens, including conscripts and their families fleeing the Russian Federation. The guidelines call for reinforced security scrutiny when issuing visas to Russians and heightened border controls, while fully respecting EU asylum law. The EU Commission has […]
Press statement by High Representative/Vice-President Borrell on a new package of restrictive measures against Russia
With the illegal “referenda” organised by Russia, the Kremlin is following the same playbook that we have already seen in Georgia in 2008 and in Crimea in 2014. As the President has said, we condemn [these illegal “referenda”] in the strongest possible terms. I am sure that I can speak on behalf of the Member […]
Press statement by President von der Leyen on a new package of restrictive measures against Russia
We wanted to present together the eighth package of sanctions. Last week, Russia has escalated the invasion of Ukraine to a new level. The sham referenda organised in the territories that Russia occupied are an illegal attempt to grab land and to change international borders by force. The mobilisation and Putin’s threat to use nuclear […]
G7 leaders‘ statement
We, the Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7), strongly condemn the sham referenda that Russia attempts to use to create a phony pretext for changing the status of Ukrainian sovereign territory, which is subject to an ongoing Russian aggression. These actions clearly breach the United Nations Charter and international law and go diametrically against […]
Council adopts additional €5 billion assistance to Ukraine
The Council formally adopted the decision to provide € 5 billion of additional macro-financial assistance (MFA) to Ukraine, as a matter of urgency. On 9 September, EU ministers for finance had agreed a statement in support of these additional €5 billion assistance for Ukraine at the informal Ecofin Council meeting in Prague. This additional assistance was […]
Pro-Kremlin Propaganda running out of Gas
This week, the Kremlin finally showed its cards when spokesperson Dmitry Peskov admitted the obvious. Namely, that Russia’s gas supplies to the EU have been and will stay on hold not because of supposed maintenance of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, but because gas is a tool of political blackmail in the Kremlin’s toolbox of […]
Extraordinary Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council (Energy), 9 de septiembre de 2022
Main results EU energy ministers held two exchanges of views on the energy situation in the EU. Measures to mitigate high energy prices During the first discussion ministers expressed their preferences on different policy options to alleviate the burden of high energy prices on citizens, public services, businesses and industry, which could be implemented at the EU-level in a short […]
EU ministers agree statement in support of additional €5 billion assistance for Ukraine
EU finance ministers and Central Bank governors met with representatives of the European Commission and the ECB at the informal Ecofin Council meeting in Prague today. The finance ministers discussed the impact of the Russian aggression in Ukraine on the European economies and supported the swift adoption of additional financial assistance to Ukraine amounting to […]
Council adopts full suspension of visa facilitation with Russia
The Council adopted a decision that fully suspends the visa facilitation agreement between the EU and Russia. Consequently, the general rules of the visa code will apply to Russian citizens. This will result in an increase in the visa application fee from €35 to €80, the need to present additional documentary evidence, increased visa processing […]