THE SANCTIONING OF WARFARE

When Russia launched its military aggression against Ukraine in February 2022, the EU and its western partners responded with unprecedented economic and financial sanctions. This policy report investigates the early lessons learned in different EU institutions and Member States during the period of this ‘sanctioning of warfare’.

Through an analysis of the various phases of the EU’s ‘sanctions policy cycle’, the report demonstrates how the EU’s seemingly strong geoeconomic response to Russia’s military aggression was challenged by a lacking intra-EU agreement about the sanctions’ overall objectives, a series of crucial implementation obstacles as well as a non-comprehensive risk assessment of the sanctions’ possible economic and non-economic unintended consequences.

Based on an examination of different experiences and perceptions found among the EU’s geographical ‘frontliners’ and ‘rearguards’ to Russia and Belarus, the report presents a series of recommendations for how the EU can improve its use of geoeconomic instruments when confronted with acute security threats.

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Selected by Virginie GASTINE MENOU