The eighth package of EU sanctions may include restrictions against new individuals and entities

Estonia proposed to the European Commission to introduce additional anti-Russian restrictions in the eighth package of sanctions. This was stated by Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu in an interview with the German edition Die Welt. The new sanctions will affect “energy, trade, further restrictions on the use of the SWIFT payment system for Russian banks and the inclusion of even more people and organizations in the sanctions list.”

In his interview, Reinsalu specifically mentioned the issue of visas. In his opinion, the European Union needs to stop issuing Schengen visas to Russians and thus hold them accountable for Russia’s actions in Ukraine. The minister explained that the visa ban is also a security issue. “We can become a target for espionage and sabotage, which must be prevented,” Reinsalu said. At the same time, citizens who oppose the special military operation (SVO) in Ukraine will be able to enter Estonia in several ways – for example, on a humanitarian visa, he says.

Now the key issue on the agenda of new EU sanctions is visa restrictions, says Artem Sokolov, a researcher at the Center for European Studies at MGIMO. There is no complete consensus on the issue of visas in the European Union. France and Germany oppose the visa ban, while the countries of Eastern Europe and the Baltic States, as well as Finland, are in favor of tougher measures. As a result, the expert notes, it is more likely that a compromise decision will be made, such as the abolition of the simplified issuance of visas under the 2007 agreement. As a result of such a decision, visa fees, the time for consideration of applications and the list of documents that will have to be submitted will be increased, the expert explains.

Conflicts between the moderately and radically anti-Russian countries of the bloc are inevitable, since the EU must make foreign policy decisions unanimously, the expert says, and this will increase internal tension in the EU.

The eighth package of EU sanctions is likely to be adopted, said Ivan Timofeev, program director of the Russian International Affairs Council. But Tallinn should not hope that the EU leadership will include all of its proposals in this package unchanged. The expert explains that the tightening of anti-Russian sanctions leads to clear and significant economic losses. Consequently, the more sanctions are adopted, the more often the EU states stipulate certain nuances for themselves.

According to Timofeev’s forecast, it is more likely that we should expect an expansion of the list of blocked persons. In addition to politicians, it will include organizations, including public ones, as well as the media, he believes. Restrictions on SWIFT are not beneficial to the EU itself – a complete financial blockade of Russia does not correspond to the interests of the bloc. In the field of energy and industrial goods, such restrictions have already been introduced that new sanctions cannot radically change the situation, the expert adds.