New EU Sanctions to Counter Russian Hybrid Threats

The European Union (EU) has approved a new sanctions mechanism to counter Russian hybrid threats. This expands the scope of existing sanctions beyond geographical limitations and specific actions. The new sanctions are designed to address a broader range of destabilizing activities, including election interference, disinformation campaigns, and attacks on critical infrastructure. The effectiveness of these new sanctions will depend on the ability of EU member states to provide compelling evidence of Russian involvement in such activities.

Understanding the New Sanctions Mechanism

On October 2, ambassadors from the 27 EU member states agreed to a new sanctions mechanism targeting Russian hybrid actions. The term "hybrid" refers to actions carried out on behalf of a state to undermine the functioning of another country. This could include attempts to impact elections or targeting critical infrastructure. The new measures are expected to be formally agreed upon by the bloc's finance ministers when they meet in Luxembourg on October 8. The new sanctions regime is designed to fill in some of the gaps in the current restrictive measures on the Kremlin. The EU has two types of sanctions regimes: geographical and horizontal. The EU has primarily used geographical sanctions, which focus on a particular location or political entity, against Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Geographical and Horizontal Sanctions

Geographical sanctions target the Russian government, its citizens, and entities such as companies that the bloc believes have undermined the territorial integrity of Ukraine. The EU has introduced various economic sanctions on different Russian industries, imposed visa bans, and frozen the assets of around 2,300 people and firms. Horizontal sanctions, on the other hand, are not limited to one country and target people and companies worldwide. These sanctions pertain to terrorism, cyberattacks, the use of chemical weapons, and human rights abuses. Russian citizens are also blacklisted under these horizontal sanctions.

Hybrid Sanctions

Earlier this year, the EU created a mix between a geographical and a horizontal sanctions regime, creating a blacklist of people committing human rights abuses in Russia. The newly agreed sanctions by the EU are a similar mix, but they go a step further. They cover not only Russian citizens but also other nationals working for Russia and involve actions taken not only in the European Union but worldwide. The two major challenges going forward will be defining the hybrid actions or "destabilizing activities," as the official document puts it, and then proving that Russia is responsible. It will be up to the member states to present compelling evidence that the bloc's legal service can approve.

Sanctionable Offenses

The legal text lists eight different examples that are sanctionable. These include the obstruction or undermining of the democratic political process, planning, directing, or engaging in violent demonstrations, activities that silence, intimidate, coerce, or exact reprisals against persons critical of the actions or policies of the Russian Federation, coordinated information manipulation, targeting of critical infrastructure in EU member states, instrumentalization of migrants, instigating or facilitating an armed conflict in a third country, and exploiting such armed conflicts through the illicit exploitation or trade of natural resources and wildlife in a third country.

Bottom Line

The new EU sanctions mechanism is an important step towards countering Russian hybrid threats. However, its effectiveness will largely depend on the ability of EU member states to provide compelling evidence of Russian involvement in destabilizing activities. It remains to be seen how this new mechanism will be implemented and how effective it will be in curbing Russian hybrid threats. What are your thoughts on this development? Share this article with your friends and let us know your views. Don't forget to sign up for the Daily Briefing, which is available every day at 6pm.