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With the approval of the 27-member bloc’s ambassadors last week, the EU will blacklist four Chinese officials and one state entity for Beijing’s treatment of Uyghurs.
This highly symbolic move, announced by EU diplomats, will be published in the EU Official Gazette later on Monday. This is the first time since 1989 that Brussels has imposed sanctions on Beijing for human rights violations. In 1989, an arms embargo was imposed on China over the events in Tiananmen Square.
China’s Foreign Ministry has warned that Beijing will “react with a firm hand” to any punishment for its actions in the western region of Xinjiang.
The new sanctions on China are part of the EU sanctions package for human rights violations. In all, sanctions were imposed on a dozen people, including those from Russia, North Korea, Eritrea, South Sudan and Libya, diplomats said.
“This is a very important step that shows our commitment,” said Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korčok.
The mechanism, which gives the bloc more leeway to target violators, was launched this month with the announcement of sanctions against four Russian officials for jailing Kremlin critic Alexei Navaln.
According to diplomats, the new sanctions against Russia are related to those accused of violating the rights of Chechnya, controlled by Ramzan Kadyrov, loyal to the Kremlin, ruled with an iron fist.
The EU will also freeze the assets of 11 Myanmar board officials and ban them from issuing visas. Sanctions are announced for last month’s military coup and brutal repression of demonstrations.
“What we are seeing of excessive violence is completely unacceptable,” said German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. “That is why we cannot avoid publishing sanctions.”
The expulsion of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi by the Myanmar military on February 1 has sparked mass protests backed by a campaign of violence and intimidation by the security forces.
Diplomats say sanctions for military-related companies will also be announced in the coming weeks.
Relations with Turkey
An important topic for the meeting is Turkey, with member states discussing efforts to improve relations following escalating tensions last year over Turkey’s actions in the eastern Mediterranean.
Brussels welcomed the steps taken by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to reduce tensions, including the resumption of talks with Greece on the disputed maritime border.
However, issues of great concern remain. These include the issue of freedoms in Turkey following the banning of a major opposition party and RT Erdogan’s decision to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell outlined the bloc’s options in a report that leaders will discuss in a video conference later this week.
Fears of undermining improving relations have delayed efforts to impose sanctions agreed in December on Turkish offshore drilling near Cyprus.
“There are other signals coming from Turkey,” Maas said.
“We will continue to try to have a dialogue, but we will also use this dialogue to address issues that we believe Turkey is sending the wrong signals to,” he said.
During a conversation with Ch. Michel condemned the “confrontational” position of the EU
Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the European Union’s “confrontational” stance in a telephone conversation with European Council President Charles Michel on Monday, the Kremlin said.
The conversation took place before a meeting of EU leaders on Thursday and Friday.
Vladimir Putin assessed the unsatisfactory state of Russia-EU relations, which was caused by the unconstructive, often confrontational, policies of our partners. Russia emphasized its willingness to restore the normal and non-politicized format of communication with the EU if the other country shows real interest, “the Kremlin said in a statement.
While planning to discuss the bloc’s relations with Russia during the EU summit, Capt. Michel and Putin spoke about the current state and prospects of the Moscow-Brussels dialogue.
“There was also talk about the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, including the use of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, the political settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, the situation in Belarus and some other relevant issues,” the Kremlin said.
Ch. Michel and Putin spoke after Russian developers of the coronavirus vaccine accused Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton of “bias” by saying the bloc did not need the drug.
