EU takes Germany to court for failing to protect nature

The European Commission is taking Germany to the European Court of Justice for violating nature and conservation laws.

The EU has long warned Germany that its efforts to protect nature under the Flora-Fauna-Habitats Directive were not adequate. On Thursday, it decided to take the country to court for not respecting its conservation obligations.

The Habitats Directive requires countries to designate special protection areas to conserve rare, threatened or native flora and fauna. More than 1,000 animal and plant species, as well as 200 types of habitat, are protected by the law.

In these special protection areas, each EU member state must establish conservation measures to maintain or restore habitats and species.

The Commission says that Germany has failed to meet some requirements, particularly when creating protected areas in the country. According to recent reporting, Germany has not designated a significant number of locations as special protection areas, the Commission says.

“Therefore, the Commission is taking Germany to the Court of Justice of the European Union.”

More than 4,500 conservation areas, known as Sites of Community Importance, were found not to have “detailed and quantified conservation objectives”.

“The European Green Deal and the European Biodiversity Strategy both stress how crucial it is for the EU to halt biodiversity loss by protecting and restoring biodiversity,” the Commission adds.

“The time limit for completing the necessary steps for all sites in Germany expired more than 10 years ago in some cases.”

Germany’s ‘only native whale’ species at risk

NABU, one of the largest and oldest environmental organisations in the country, believes that while more protected areas are needed, not enough is being done in those that already exist.

The organisation says that it is “absurd” that conservation measures have not yet been defined and implemented – seven years after Germany was first warned about the infringement.

The group points out that the consequences of inaction are already having an effect on the country’s wildlife. In January, scientists found that populations of harbour porpoises were declining in the German North Sea.

In the Sylt Outer Reef, an area protected under the Habitat Directive, the population of this species has fallen by an average of nearly 4 per cent every year, over the last 20 years.

“Germany’s only native whale is not effectively protected from the effects of fishing, shipping or offshore wind farms, either in protected areas or in important migratory corridors,” says NABU marine protection expert, Kim Detloff.

Environmental groups, including NABU and Greenpeace Germany, hope that the legal action will finally force the country to take adequate action to protect nature.

“For years, Germany has failed miserably to protect nature and biodiversity, both on land and at sea. Short-term economic profits and the industrial exploitation of natural resources were systematically placed above the concerns of nature and species protection,” says Greenpeace Marine biologist, Thilo Maack.

“The German government must finally meet its European obligations in order to avoid fines running into the millions.”

Every weekday at 15.30 CET, Euronews Living brings you a cutting edge, environmental story from somewhere around the world. Download the Euronews app to get an alert for this and other breaking news. It’s available on Apple and Android devices.

EU foreign ministers to discuss Russia relations at council meeting

The European Union’s tense relations with Russia will be at the top of the agenda at the EU Foreign Ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday.

The EU has repeatedly called for the release of the Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, threatening Russia with possible new sanctions.

“It’s clear that Russia is on a confrontational course with the European Union,” the bloc’s chief Josep Borrell said on Monday.

“In the case of Mr Navalny, there is a blunt refusal to respect their engagements, including the refusal of taking into account the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights”, he added.

Russia has said it’s ready to sever ties with the EU if new sanctions are imposed.

Relations between Brussels and Moscow hit a new low in recent weeks after the tit-for-tat expulsions of a number of diplomats.

Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov however stated that the country is ready to “restore relations” if the EU decides that it’s necessary, after a meeting with his Finnish counterpart Pekka Haavisto, last Monday.

The EU’s foreign minister will also discuss the current crisis in Myanmar, Ethiopia, as well as the Iran nuclear deal and the crackdown on opposition forces in Belarus.

More on this story from Euronews correspondent Shona Murray in the video player above.

Microsoft teams up with EU publishers on news payments

Brussels  — Microsoft and European media groups on Monday urged EU regulators to require online platforms to seek arbitration in disagreements over how to share revenues with news publishers, a sticking point in the spat between Facebook and Australia.

The EU’s 2019 overhauled copyright rules, which force Alphabet unit Google and other online platforms to sign licensing agreements with musicians, authors and news publishers to use their work, are not sufficient, Microsoft and the publishers said.

“This initiative is a logical next step,” Microsoft vice-president Casper Klynge said, adding that the company already shares revenues with publishers via its product Microsoft News.

Facebook last week imposed a news ban in Australia in protest against a forthcoming law that would require online platforms to reach deals to pay news outlets for content, or agree on a price through arbitration.

The call by Microsoft, the European Magazine Media Association, European Newspaper Publishers Association, European Publishers Council and News Media Europe comes as EU legislators limber up for talks with the European Commission and EU countries on rules to rein in US tech giants.

“Even though press publishers have a neighbouring right, they might not have the economic strength to negotiate fair and balanced agreements with these gatekeeper tech companies, who might otherwise threaten to walk away from negotiations or exit markets entirely,” they said in a statement.

Reuters 

Myanmar: EU threatens sanctions against military junta

The European Union is poised to impose sanctions against the military leaders in Myanmar, according to a joint statement released after EU foreign ministers met in Brussels on Monday.

The statement came as protesters in Myanmar continued to take to the streets despite a deadly crackdown by military and police forces. At least three protesters have died since Friday, and the military has reported that one policeman had also lost his life.

On Monday, the European Union announced that it was “ready to adopt restrictive measures targeting those directly responsible for the military coup and their economic interests.”

The bloc also called for a “de-escalation of the current crisis” that began on February 1, when the military overturned the democratic election results in Myanmar and took control of the country.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the bloc would use any diplomatic means necessary to ensure deescalation of the conflict in Myanmar.

US issues new sanctions 

The US Treasury Department late Monday placed two high-ranking members of Myanmar’s military under sanctions for their role in the coup.

Lieutenant General Moe Myint Tun and General Maung Maung Kyaw were added to the Treasury’s blacklist, which freezes their US assets and bars US citizens from doing business with them. 

“The military must reverse its actions and urgently restore the democratically elected government in Burma, or the Treasury Department will not hesitate to take further action,” the department said in a statement.

Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, told DW last week that sanctions need to go beyond targeting individual generals, and go after businesses the military owns, to be more effective. 

“The military needs these businesses to be operating. And if they face sanctions, that’s going to cut off their lifeblood and their ability to maintain their repressive rule,” Roth said. 

Global leaders call on military to step aside

The European Union also called for the immediate and unconditional release of Aung San Suu Kyi and the ousted president, Win Myint, as well as others who had been detained during the military coup.

Other world leaders also spoke out against the military regime as protesters gathered in the streets on Monday, a day after US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken expressed explicit support for the protesters over Twitter.

The UK foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, told the UN Human Rights Council that the situation in Myanmar was deteriorating.

He laid out demands for the junta to relinquish power. “The military must step aside. Civilian leaders must be released. And the democratic wishes of the people of Myanmar must be respected,” he said.

UN chief Antonio Guterres also  called on the generals  to hand power back to the civilian government. 

“I call on the Myanmar military to stop the repression immediately. Release the prisoners. End the violence. Respect human rights and the will of the people expressed in recent elections. Coups have no place in our modern world,” Guterres said.

wmr,ab/dj (dpa, AFP, Reuters)

EU agrees to plan sanctions against Russia

Individuals in Russia’s judiciary could face EU sanctions in the coming days, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Monday.

“The EU will not be silent” about the persecution of anti-corruption crusader Alexei Navalny, Maas told reporters following a meeting of top diplomats from the bloc.

“Relations (with Russia) are certainly at a low — there is no other word for it,” Maas said, while also referring to a recent Moscow visitby EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

“Therefore, we decided today to impose further sanctions and list specific persons,” he added. Though Maas did not provide names, he said the new measures would be focused on Russian officials “from the judiciary.”

Visa bans, asset freezes

Previously, diplomatic sources said the foreign ministers had agreed to impose sanctions on four top Russian officials. 

The agreement came after France, Germany, Poland and the Baltic countries urged the bloc to take steps against the Kremlin. 

EU diplomats also told reporters that the meetings did not address specific names.

But officials will now start drafting the framework of restrictions, including asset freezes and visa bans against individuals responsible for the repressive actions against protesters and Navalny himself.

Germany’s Maas spoke to the press before the meeting, expressing his support for sanctions as well as keeping dialogue channels with Russia open.

“I am in favor of ordering the preparation of additional sanctions, of listings of specific persons,” Maas said on his arrival to the talks.

“At the same time, we need to talk about how to keep up a constructive dialogue with Russia, even as relations certainly have reached a low,” he added.

How did Russia respond?

In a statement Monday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said the EU sanctions are “unlawful,” “disappointing” and adopted under a “far-fetched pretext.”

The Foreign Ministry called demands for Navalny’s release “unacceptable” and “absurd,” as the arrested opposition leader was “convicted by a Russian court” on Russian territory in “accordance with Russian law.”

Sanctions, according to the statement, amount to “interference in the internal affairs of a sovereign state.

EU, Russia on a collision course

Eight EU foreign ministers, as well as several EU ambassadors, met with two of Navalny’s close allies on Sunday evening ahead of the talks.

Leonid Volkov, a close aide of Navalny’s, told DW that the bloc should focus on sanctioning Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.

“The strongest answers that could be given would be personal targeted sanctions against Putin’s closest allies, the most important parts of the repressive machine he’s built,” Volkov said. 

“Unlike sectoral sanctions against [the] Russian economy,” he added, “these personal sanctions couldn’t be deemed by Russian propaganda for their favor.”

Gabrielius Landsbergis, the foreign minister of Lithuania, which organized Sunday’s discussion, said “the biggest hope for [Monday] is that we will make a unanimous decision about the list” of people to be sanctioned.

Relations between Russia and the European Union have continued to break down despite a recent visit by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to Moscow, which was widely considered to have been a catastrophe.

Borrell himself admitted as much before Monday’s meeting. “It’s clear that Russia is on a confrontational course with the European Union,” he said.

Years of EU sanctions against Russia

The EU imposed sanctions on a series of individuals, including close allies of Putin’s, back in October, after the poisoning of the Navalny with the Soviet-era Novichok nerve agent. Russia responded with its own individual sanctions and the expulsion of three EU diplomats, which was announced during Borrell’s trip.

Speaking to the UN-backed Conference on Disarmament, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Moscow of having “used chemical weapons to try to assassinate its own people,” including Navalny,

Russia had already been hit with sanctions following its 2014 annexation of Crimea and its backing of insurgents in Ukraine.

But the Kremlin has also seen a wave of protests after police arrested Navalny on his return to the country in January. The political activist has been sentenced to almost three years in prison. The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Navalny’s sentencing was unlawful.

ab/rc (AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa)

EU agrees to sanctions on Myanmar military, Russian officials

European Union foreign ministers have agreed to impose sanctions on Myanmar’s military over its coup earlier this month and withhold some development aid, as well as blacklist Russian officials for the jailing of Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny.

The bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Monday the EU would not curb trade ties with Myanmar as that could hit the general population.

“We took the political agreement to apply sanctions targeting the military responsible for the coup and their economic interests,” Borrell said. “All direct financial support from our development system to the government reform programmes is withheld.”

The military on February 1 arrested civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup that has drawn widespread international condemnation. It has since launched an increasingly bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators who have taken to the streets en masse to denounce the takeover.

The United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States have all announced targeted sanctions on Myanmar’s military leaders, including Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

Despite the growing backlash, the military – known locally as Tatmadaw – has ignored calls for a return to civilian rule, saying it will hold new elections and hand over power to a winner.

Separately, European diplomats told AFP news agency the sanctions against Russian senior officials would target four people deemed responsible for persecuting Navalny, using the EU’s new human rights regime adopted last year.

The diplomats did not name the targeted individuals but the limited move looks set to disappoint those calling for a tough response against Moscow.

Navalny’s associates and European lawmakers had urged the ministers meeting in Brussels to go after oligarchs accused of funding President Vladimir Putin’s rule.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said the sanctions were intended to send a “statement that we are not prepared to accept certain things”.

“But it is also necessary that we continue to have a dialogue with Russia,” he said.

Borrell did not confirm the number of people to be targeted. He said he would officially put forward the names to be sanctioned and hoped the measures would be in place within a week.

“We have to sanction the people who are directly connected to his arrest, his sentencing, his persecution,” Borrell said.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko dismissed the move as a “broken record” in comments to state news agency RIA Novosti.

The mood towards Moscow hardened across the EU after Borrell was caught in a diplomatic ambush on a trip to Moscow this month, during which the Kremlin expelled three European diplomats.

The bloc has already hit Russia with waves of sanctions over the 2014 annexation of Crimea and Moscow’s role in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

The EU in October put six officials on a blacklist over the August poisoning of Navalny with Novichok, a Soviet-era nerve agent.

Navalny, Putin’s most prominent domestic critic, was this month jailed for almost three years after returning to Russia following treatment in Germany for his poisoning.

His jailing sparked nationwide protests that saw baton-wielding security forces detain thousands of people.

Two of Navalny’s closest associates pressed for sanctions against Putin’s top circle – including oligarchs – at a meeting with eight EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Sunday.

“If it’s just 10 Kremlin officials who don’t travel abroad and don’t have assets abroad, then, indeed, it would not be painful,” Navalny’s key aide Leonid Volkov told journalists.

Venezuela, Belarus

European ministers also added 19 Venezuelan officials to a blacklist for “undermining democracy” and human rights abuses after the EU rejected legislative elections in December as undemocratic.

The bloc discussed the continuing repression in Belarus and said it would consider the need to introduce a fourth round of sanctions against President Alexander Lukashenko’s government.

Ministers also eyed China’s crackdown on Hong Kong as the EU attempts to gauge whether it should beef up its response now that Beijing is tightening its grip.

Borrell said Brussels would look to support Hong Kong’s civil society as a first step and would consider more measures if the situation deteriorated.

EU ‘Set To Sanction’ Four Russians Over Navalny Jailing, Clampdown

EU foreign ministers on February 22 agreed to fresh sanctions against “specific persons” over Russia’s jailing of opposition politician Aleksei Navalny and a crackdown on his allies, according to German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.

The Russian Foreign Ministry responded by saying it was “disappointed” at the bloc’s move and accusing the EU Foreign Affairs Council of invoking a “far-fetched pretext” to prepare “new unlawful restrictions on Russian citizens.”

Moscow also rejected as “categorically unacceptable” outside demands for the release of a Russian national convicted by a Russian court, as Navalny has been in processes that he and Western governments have said are politically motivated.

Top diplomats from the EU’s 27 members gathered in Brussels were weighing targeted measures against Russian individuals and institutions, such as asset freezes and visa bans, under the bloc’s newly created sanctions instrument to punish human rights violators.

“The relations are certainly at a low, there is no other word for it,” Maas said in Berlin after returning from the meeting with his counterparts in Brussels. “Therefore, we decided today to impose further sanctions and list specific persons.”

Anonymous diplomatic sources were quoted by multiple agencies as saying ministers had agreed behind closed doors to punish four senior, unnamed Russian officials tied to the Navalny case and clampdown.

EU prepares measures against Myanmar coup leaders

BRUSSELS — European Union foreign ministers on Monday tasked the bloc’s top diplomat and its executive wing with drawing up a series of measures to target those responsible for the military coup in Myanmar, as people rallied in the streets of the country’s biggest city.

“The European Union calls for de-escalation of the current crisis through an immediate end to the state of emergency, the restoration of the legitimate civilian government and the opening of the newly elected parliament,” the ministers said in a statement as they met in Brussels.

“In response to the military coup, the European Union stands ready to adopt restrictive measures targeting those directly responsible. All other tools at the disposal of the European Union and its Member States will be kept under review,” the ministers said.

Such sanctions usually involve a freeze on people’s assets and a ban on them traveling to Europe.

Myanmar’s military junta prevented Parliament from convening on Feb. 1. It claimed that last November’s elections, won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s party in a landslide, were tainted by fraud. The election commission that confirmed the victory has since been replaced by the junta.

The coup was a major setback to Myanmar’s transition to democracy after 50 years of army rule that began with a 1962 coup. Suu Kyi came to power after her party won a 2015 election, but the generals retained substantial power under a military-drafted constitution.

Around 640 people have been arrested, charged or sentenced, with 593, including Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, still in detention, according to the independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.

The EU ministers condemned the arrests and called for the unconditional release of the President, Suu Kyi and all those held since the coup. They also condemned the security crackdown and expressed solidarity with citizens, saying that any sanctions they impose are not aimed at ordinary people.

Despite the junta’s thinly veiled threat to use lethal force if people answered a call for a general strike, and roadblocks around the U.S. Embassy in Yangon, more than a thousand protesters gathered there Monday. Military trucks and riot police stood nearby.

EU Foreign Ministers Reportedly Agree to Expand Personal Sanctions Against Russia Over Navalny

According to Reuters, the EU ministers did not yet discuss which officials will be added to the sanctions list.

At the same time, Reuters reported that sanctions may be adopted promptly. Some sources said that the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee, the director of prisons, the director of the Russian National Guard and the prosecutor general may be added to the sanctions list.

Earlier in February, a Moscow court rescinded Navalny’s suspended sentence in the 2014 Yves Rocher fraud case over multiple probation breaches and replaced it with 3.5 years in prison. Taking into account the time he had spent under house arrest, Navalny will have to spend some 2.5 years behind bars.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said this month that the EU was weighing sanctions against Russia for imprisoning Navalny on earlier embezzlement charges.

Microsoft, EU publishers seek Australia-style news payments

LONDON (AP) — Microsoft is teaming up with European publishers to push for a system to make big tech platforms pay for news, raising the stakes in the brewing battle led by Australia to get Google and Facebook to pay for journalism.

The U.S. tech giant and four big European Union news industry groups unveiled their plan Monday to work together on a solution to “mandate payments” for use of news content from online “gatekeepers with dominant market power.”

EU’s Ties With Russia Have Hit Rock Bottom, Dialogue Needed, German Foreign Minister Maas Says

German Foreign Minister Heiko Mass has stated that the EU’s relations with Russia have hit rock bottom, but that it is necessary to maintain a dialogue.

During a meeting with his EU counterparts in Brussels on Monday, Maas made it clear that he is “in favour ordering the preparation of additional sanctions” against Russia.

“At the same time we need to talk about how to keep up a constructive dialogue with Russia, even as relations certainly have reached a low”, the German foreign minister emphasised.

The statement comes after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that the breakup between Russia and the EU had been in the works for some time, with the bloc being the initiator.

“In general, it is clear for any person that takes at least some interest in the situation in Europe that the breakup has been going on for many years, as the EU consistently keeps severing ties”, Lavrov said at a press conference, held after talks with Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto.

According to the top Russian diplomat, the 2014 coup in Ukraine was a tipping point, as the EU “in fact showed it could do nothing with the agreement, which the authorities and the opposition reached just ahead of the coup and which was signed by Germany, France, and Poland”. Lavrov added that there isn’t much left to Russia-EU relations, but Moscow is ready to continue a dialogue on mutually beneficial topics. He also said that if the EU decides to restore ties with Russia, Moscow will be ready for it. Last week, he stated that Moscow “probably” has to stop communicating for a while with those “responsible for Western foreign policy and who do not understand the need for mutually respectful dialogue”.

“Especially since [President of the European Commission] Ursula von der Leyen is saying that geopolitical cooperation with the current Russian authorities is not working. So let it be if that’s what they want”, Lavrov said at a session of the Valdai discussion club.

This came a day after foreign ministers of the European Union reached an agreement to impose sanctions on Russia over the alleged poisoning of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, citing a violation of the International Chemical Weapons Convention. Commenting on the decision, the Russian foreign minister said that the European Union had adopted Washington’s style of threatening and punishing states with sanctions. According to him, such mechanisms violate the principles of the UN Charter and are outside the framework of the UN Security Council.

Navalny Case

On 20 August, Navalny fell ill on a domestic flight in Russia. He was initially treated in the Siberian city of Omsk, where his plane made an emergency landing. Two days later, when doctors determined that he was fit for cross-border aerial transportation, the politician was taken to the Berlin-based Charite hospital for further treatment. In a later statement, the German government said that doctors had found evidence of a poisonous nerve agent from the Novichok group in Navalny’s body. Moscow disputed these allegations, noting that its doctors had found no toxic substances in Navalny while he was treated in Omsk. Russia is demanding that Germany provide evidence on the Navalny case and make the case materials available to Russian investigators.

EU agrees to plan sanctions against Russia — sources

Individuals in Russia’s judiciary could face EU sanctions in the coming days, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Monday.

“The EU will not be silent” over the persecution of anti-corruption crusader Alexei Navalny, Maas told reporters following a meeting of top EU diplomats.

“The relations (with Russia) are certainly at a low, there is no other word for it,” Maas said, while also referring to a recent Moscow visit by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

“Therefore, we decided today to impose further sanctions and list specific persons,” he added. While Maas did not provide names, he said that the new measures would be focused on Russian officials “from the judiciary.”

Visa bans, asset freezes

Previously, diplomatic sources said that the foreign ministers agreed to impose sanctions on four top Russian officials. 

The agreement came after France, Germany, Poland and the Baltic countries urged the bloc to take steps against the Kremlin. 

EU diplomats also told reporters that the meetings did not address specific names. But the bloc is now set to discuss the framework of restrictions, including asset freezes and visa bans against individuals responsible for the repressive actions against protesters and Navalny himself.

Germany’s Maas spoke to the press before the meeting, expressing his support for sanctions as well as keeping dialogue channels with Russia open.

“I am in favor of ordering the preparation of additional sanctions, of listings of specific persons,” Maas said on his arrival to the talks.

“At the same time we need to talk about how to keep up a constructive dialogue with Russia, even as relations certainly have reached a low,” he added.

EU, Russia on a collision course

Eight EU foreign ministers, as well as several EU ambassadors, met with two of Navalny’s close allies on Sunday evening ahead of the talks.

Leonid Volkov, a close aide of Navanly, told DW that the bloc should focus on sanctioning the Russian president’s inner circle.

“The strongest answers that could be given would be personal targeted sanctions against Putin’s closest allies, the most important parts of the repressive machine he’s built.”

“Unlike sectoral sanctions against [the] Russian economy, these personal sanctions couldn’t be deemed by Russian propaganda for their favor.”

Gabrielius Landsbergis, foreign minister of Lithuania, which organized Sunday’s discussion, said “the biggest hope for [Monday] is that we will make a unanimous decision about the list” of people to be sanctioned.

Relations between Russia and the EU have continued to break down despite a recent visit by EU foreign police chief Josep Borrell to Moscow, widely considered to have been a catastrophe.

Borrell himself admitted as much before Monday’s meeting. “It’s clear that Russia is on a confrontational course with the European Union,” he said.

Years of EU sanctions against Russia

The EU imposed sanctions on a series of individuals, including close allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin, back in October after the poisoning of the government critic Alexei Navalny with the Soviet-era Novichok nerve agent. Russia responded with its own individual sanctions and the expulsion of three EU diplomats, which was announced during Borrell’s trip.

Speaking to the UN-backed Conference on Disarmament, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Moscow of having “used chemical weapons to try to assassinate its own people,” including Navalny,

Russia had already been hit with sanctions following its 2014 annexation of Crimea and its backing of insurgents in Ukraine.

But the Kremlin has also seen a wave of protests after police arrested Navalny on his return to the country in January. The political activist has been sentenced to almost three years in jail. The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Navalny’s sentencing was unlawful.

ab/rc (AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa)

EU considers sanctions on Russia, Myanmar

At a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council, European Union foreign ministers are expected to weigh fresh sanctions on Russia over the imprisonment of Alexey Navalny, consider penalising Myanmar officials over the recent coup, and discuss efforts to save the imperilled 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.

Top diplomats from the 27-nation bloc will meet at the EU’s headquarters in Brussels on Monday for the discussions, which will also include a video-conference with the new US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Ahead of the meeting, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas urged his EU counterparts to approve the preparation of additional sanctions on Russia.

Diplomats have said the bloc is set to prepare travel bans and asset freezes on allies of Russian President Vladimir Putin in response to Navalny’s imprisonment, but they appear unlikely to impose restrictions on oligarchs close to Putin, as the Kremlin critic had called for.

Navalny, 44, has been imprisoned in Russia since his arrest on January 17, when he returned to Moscow from Berlin. He had been treated in the German capital following an alleged poisoning attack last year, which he blames on Russian officials. Moscow denies any involvement in the August 2020 incident.

He was jailed on February 2 for almost three years over alleged parole violations on a suspended sentence linked to a 2014 embezzlement case. Navalny insists the case brought forward against him was politically motivated.

His jailing has fuelled nationwide anti-government demonstrations.

“I am in favour of ordering the preparation of additional sanctions, of listings of specific persons,” Maas said upon arriving for the talks on Monday.

EU-Russia ties at ‘low point’

A final decision on sanctions is likely to be taken by EU leaders at a summit in Brussels in mid-March.

But Maas also called for EU foreign ministers to “talk about how to keep up a constructive dialogue with Russia, even as relations certainly have reached a low”.

Russia, for its part, has said it is ready to retaliate if the EU takes punitive action.

Monday’s meeting comes two weeks after EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell made a rare visit to Russia for talks with Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov, a move that drew condemnation from some EU members.

During Borrell’s visit, Russia announced the expulsion of diplomats from Sweden, Germany and Poland, accusing them of participating in pro-Navalny protests.

Sweden, Germany and Poland took tit-for-tat retaliatory action.

The EU has previously struck Russia with sanctions – over the 2014 annexation of Crimea, the war in Ukraine, and in October, it placed six officials on a blacklist over Navalny’s alleged poisoning.

Al Jazeera’s Dominic Kane, reporting from Berlin, said fresh sanctions on Russia would mark a “ratcheting up of the pressure”.

Iran, Myanmar to feature

The Iran nuclear deal and the situation in Myanmar are also expected to be on the agenda.

Signed in Vienna in 2015, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, saw Iran curtail its nuclear programme in exchange for a gradual easing of international sanctions.

“The EU’s position is that they want any kind of rapprochement, any kind of detente,” Al Jazeera’s Dominic Kane said. “Anything that can keep the deal alive and then have the deal bolstered, the EU wants to be part of.”

The deal was rocked by former US President Donald Trump’s decision to formally withdraw from the accord in 2018 and reimpose sanctions on Iran. Tehran has gradually scaled back its commitments in response.

US President Joe Biden’s administration says it is ready to talk about returning to the accord, but Tehran insists the US must first rescind its sanctions, while Washington says Tehran must first return to compliance.

EU foreign ministers are also expected to decide whether to sanction individuals in Myanmar in response to the military’s seizing of power.

Germany’s Maas said the bloc was “not prepared to stand by and watch” the situation unfold, as Myanmar’s authorities deploy increasingly heavy-handed tactics in a bid to crush protests against the coup.

“We will use all diplomatic channels to push for a de-escalation in Myanmar but at the same time, as a last resort, prepare sanctions on the military regime in Myanmar,” he added.

Maas’ comments came after Borrell on Saturday condemned the violence against peaceful rallies, during which three demonstrators have been killed.

EU adds 19 Venezuelan officials to sanctions blacklist

The Council today added 19 leading Venezuelan officials to the list of those subject to restrictive measures, due to their role in acts and decisions undermining democracy and the rule of law in the country, or as a result of serious human rights violations.

This decision follows on from the Council conclusions of 25 January 2021, which indicated that the EU stood ready to adopt additional targeted restrictive measures, in view of the deteriorating situation in Venezuela following the December 2020 elections.

The individuals added to the list are responsible, notably, for undermining the oppositions’ electoral rights and the democratic functioning of the National Assembly, and for serious violations of human rights and restrictions of fundamental freedoms.

Today’s decision brings to 55 the total number of individuals subject to sanctions, which include travel bans and asset freezes. These targeted measures are designed not to have adverse humanitarian effects or unintended consequences for the Venezuelan population, and can be reversed.

The EU will continue to engage and work with all stakeholders in Venezuela to promote peaceful dialogue and a democratic and sustainable solution to the crises in the country.

The EU introduced restrictive measures on Venezuela in November 2017. The measures include an embargo on arms and on equipment for internal repression, and the imposition of travel bans and asset freezes on listed individuals.

EU must be ‘united and determined’ on Russia sanctions, says Borrell

Russia must be met with “united and determined” action over the imprisonment of the opposition leader Alexei Navalny, the EU’s foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, has said ahead of ministerial discussions on sanctions.

Borrell, a former Spanish foreign minister, who was widely seen as being humiliated during a press conference with his Russian counterpart in Moscow earlier this month, said the Kremlin had rejected a diplomatic way out of the crisis.

Speaking before a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, where a number of member states are expected to push for work to start on targeting individuals, potentially on human rights grounds, Borrell signalled a hardening of his own position.

“It is clear that Russia is on a confrontational course with the EU. In the case of Mr Navalny, there is a blunt refusal to respect the engagement, including refusal to take into account the decisions of the European court of human rights,” he said. “It is going to be an important discussion of foreign affairs ministers as how to react to this and I hope we will do it in a united and determined way.”

Navalny’s two-and-a-half-year prison sentence for violating the terms of his parole while recovering in Germany from an attempted assassination attempt was confirmed by a Russian appeal court on Friday.

Russia has said it will ignore a ruling from the European court of human rights that Navalny should be released due to a lack of safeguards over his safety despite the government’s requirement to comply as a member of the Council of Europe.

The Kremlin responded by calling the court’s decision “blatant and gross interference in the judicial affairs of a sovereign state”.

The EU’s 27 heads of state and government are due to debate the bloc’s relationship with Russia at a summit next month but there is now growing pressure internally and externally for the bloc to act.

Ministers and ambassadors for the member states met Navalny’s chief of staff, Leonid Volkov, and Ivan Zhdanov, the chief executive of the opposition leader’s anti-corruption foundation, on Sunday.

Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithuania’s minister of foreign affairs, said there was clear evidence that sanctions could have a meaningful impact. The EU adopted a so-called European Magnitsky Act this year taking powers to freeze assets and impose travel bans on individuals involved in human rights abuses.

Landsbergis said: “We cannot turn a blind eye to blatant breaches of human rights violations in Russia. Continuous threatening from Russian authorities to sever ties with the European Union, the brutality of police and military against media, defenders of human rights and civil society indicate the regime’s fear of a change. The bigger is the circle of Kremlin-related perpetrators sanctioned, the bigger is the effect of sanctions.”

Germany’s foreign minister, Heiko Maas, said: “I am in favour of ordering the preparation of additional listing of sanctions of specific persons. At the same time we need to find ways to keep the communication channels with Moscow open.”

Earlier this month, Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, faced calls to resign after he failed to respond to claims from Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, during a press conference, that the EU had been “an unreliable partner”. Borrell had instead spoken of his hope that the Russian Sputnik V vaccine would be approved for EU use.

Shortly after the meeting, three diplomats from EU member states were expelled from Russia on the disputed grounds that they had attended the nationwide protests against Navalny’s imprisonment.

Borrell belatedly criticised the “aggressively staged” press conference and expulsions but concerns have been raised by MEPs over weak leadership. In 2019, Borrell had described foreign affairs ministerial meetings as a “valley of tears” that has “very little capacity to influence world affairs”.

Meanwhile, the council of ministers issued a statement on Monday condemning the military coup carried out in Myanmar this month “in the strongest terms, and stressed that the EU stands with the Burmese people”.

“While the EU is ready to support dialogue with all key stakeholders to resolve the situation, the council stated that the EU stands ready to adopt restrictive measures targeting those directly responsible for the military coup and their economic interests,” the statement said.

EU envisages €1 billion aid to Ivory Coast to meet sustainable cocoa laws

The European Union envisages providing around one billion euros over six years to aid Ivory Coast’s cocoa sector as it adapts to EU supply chain laws due to be introduced later this year, its envoy in Abidjan said on Friday (19 February).

“In the context of our future programming for 2021-2027, the EU is envisaging a Team Europe initiative which could mobilise up to one billion euros to accompany Ivory Coast in the transition towards sustainable cocoa production,” EU Ambassador to Ivory Coast Jobst von Kirchmann said in an interview.

Kirchmann did not say when a final decision would be taken.

The European Parliament has been pushing for the 27-nation bloc to introduce laws to prevent the import of commodities and products linked to deforestation and human rights abuses.

If the laws are adopted, buyers would be required to trace their inputs through every step of their supply chains, including starting at the level of small farms.

Companies like Nestle and Danone might have to comply with these requirements as early as 2024.

“The European consumer today wants to consume a product that comes from a sustainable production and that applies to all raw materials and all countries,” von Kirchmann said.

Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer, has begun negotiations with the EU to agree minimum standards for sustainability.

The West African country hopes the EU’s laws will help protect forests, curb child labour and end farmer poverty.

Through imports of commodities such as meat, soy, palm oil and cocoa, the EU and its consumers account for over 10% of global deforestation linked to production, according to the European Commission.

EU weighs troubled Russia ties, fresh sanctions

BRUSSELS — European Union foreign ministers on Monday will look at options for imposing fresh sanctions against Russia over the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, as the 27-nation bloc considers the future of its troubled ties with the country.

The ministers will discuss possible names of Russian officials and whether to target them individually or whether to use a new system of measures aimed at human rights abuses. But they appear unlikely to impose restrictions on oligarchs close to President Vladimir Putin, as Navalny has requested.

“It’s clear that Russia is on a confrontational course with the European Union,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said. “In the case of Mr Navalny, there is a blunt refusal to respect their engagements, including the refusal of taking into account the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights.”

Navalny, 44, an anti-corruption investigator and Putin’s most prominent critic, was arrested in Moscow last month upon returning from Germany, where he spent five months recovering from a nerve-agent poisoning that he blames on the Kremlin. Russian authorities have rejected the accusation.

Earlier this month, a court sentenced Navalny to two years and eight months in prison for violating the terms of his probation while recuperating in Germany. The sentence stems from a 2014 embezzlement conviction that Navalny has rejected as fabricated.

The European Court of Human Rights has also ruled that it’s unlawful.

Borrell said he hoped that the ministers will respond “in a united and determined way.” But so far EU countries have been deeply divided over their approach to Moscow.

European heavyweight Germany has strong economic interests there, notably the NordStream 2 undersea pipeline project, and a number of countries, including France, are also reluctant to wade into any sanctions battle over Navalny.

The Associated Press

Alexei Navalny: EU renews threat of Russia sanctions

The European Union’s top diplomat Josep Borrell on Sunday threatened Russia again with sanctions over the jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

Borrell will discuss measures at a meeting of EU ministers for foreign affairs on Monday and prepare action against Moscow.

The EU diplomat said he has also noted that Russian courts are continuing to ignore a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) that Navalny should be released.

Russia, however, has rejected the court’s ruling as interfering in its domestic judicial affairs.

Austria expects EU backing for sanctions

Support for EU measures against the Kremlin appears to be growing,

Earlier on Sunday, Austria’s top diplomat has said EU foreign ministers will back sanctioning Russia.

Alexander Schallenberg said he expects “a broad majority of support” for sanctions among the EU’s 27 members, but added the sanctions “have to be politically smart and legally watertight.”

He told Germany’s Welt Am Sonntag newspaper the bloc will use new powers that governments agreed on last year to punish human rights abuses.

“This also includes targeted measures against individuals within the framework of the newly created human rights sanctions regime,” he said. “I expect a broad majority of support for this.”

“Just commenting on what is happening in Russia from the sidelines and threatening sanctions is not enough,” he said. “Russia is a reality in our neighborhood that we cannot simply ‘talk’ away, but that we have to face.”

Brussels to hold talks with Blinken

The meeting of the EU’s foreign ministers on Monday will include a wide-ranging video conference with new US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Discussions will also touch on the recent military coup in Myanmar and the Iran nuclear deal.

The move to target the Kremlin comes two weeks after EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell was caught in a diplomatic ambush in Moscow that enraged member states.

Russia later expelled three European diplomats and rebuffed talk of cooperation.

EU diplomats quoted by the AFP news agency said the new measures would focus on travel bans and asset freezes.

EU action against Moscow

The EU has imposed sanctions on Russia in the past, hitting Moscow with a series of restrictive measures over its 2014 annexation of Crimea.

It also drew up a list of individuals believed to have been involved in the 2018 poisoning of a former Russian agent in the United Kingdom.

Last year, the bloc blamed and sanctioned Moscow for cyberattacks on the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the German Bundestag.

It also blacklisted six officials in October over the poisoning of Navalny with Novichok, a nerve agent. The opposition figure then flew to Germany for medical treatment, returning home last month.

Navalny remains in jail

Navalny was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in a prison camp at the beginning of February. Judges denied his appeal on Saturday.

Hours later, he was convicted in the same court of slandering a World War II veteran and fined the equivalent of €9,500 ($11,500).

The veteran had appeared in a video supporting constitutional reforms, approved last year, to allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to stand for election for two further terms.

Navalny’s initial jailing sparked nationwide protests that saw baton-wielding security forces detain thousands.

He has blamed Putin for last year’s near-fatal nerve agent attack, and has said the charges against him are fabricated.

The Kremlin has denied any involvement in Navalny’s poisoning.

mvb, jf/rc (AFP, Reuters)