EU to punish chemical weapons attacks with new sanctions regime

The EU Council has adopted a new sanctions framework to address the ‘use and proliferation of chemical weapons’ (15 October). The EU is now able to impose sanctions on any persons or entities involved in the development or use of chemical weapons ‘regardless of their nationality and location.’ Those eligible for potential sanctions include not only parties directly responsible for the development and use of chemical weapons, but ‘those who provide financial, technical or material support, and those who assist, encourage or are associated with them.’

The new legal framework paves the way for the EU to impose sanctions on Russia for its suspected use of nerve agent Novichok against former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in the UK city of Salisbury in March, which hospitalised Skripal and his daughter. The nerve agent was also implicated in a separate incident in which two British people were poisoned, one fatally. The attack has been widely condemned by countries including France, Germany, US and Canada. In September the UK government took the unusual step of naming the two Russian military intelligence officers believed responsible.

Sanctioned parties will be subject to a travel ban to the EU, an asset freeze and will not be able to avail themselves of funds from EU persons or entities.

The EU press release can be found here:
https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2018/10/15/chemical-weapons-the-council-adopts-a-new-sanctions-regime/pdf