Vita gazette – The Transatlantic triangle consisting of the USA, NATO and the EU has returned to the policy of “acting together” during the Cold War period. Announcing its economic sanctions decisions one after another, the tripartite alliance began to follow the strategy of “excluded from the international system, isolating and discrediting Russia” politically, socially and culturally. The first political sanction against Russia came from the Council of Europe, of which it is a member. Russia was not removed from the organization, but its membership was temporarily suspended. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu were also added to the sanctions list. The European Broadcasting Union has announced that they will not allow Russia to participate in the Eurovision song contest this year, because “our prestige will be damaged if Russia participates”. Russia was also excluded from sports events.

The sanctions winds of the USA, NATO and the EU, acting together against Russia, are expanding. Countries such as the UK, Canada, Norway, South Korea, Japan and Australia are also on the side of the triple alliance. The decisions taken are as follows:

The political sanction

– Russia’s membership in the Council of Europe has been suspended. (The Council of Europe has decided on this direction for the first time since its establishment in 1949) Russia will no longer be represented in the Committee of Ministers, the main decision-making body of the Council of Europe, and will not be able to take part in the decision mechanism of the organization of which it is a member. (The court membership of the judge elected to the ECHR on behalf of Russia continues) It was stated in the Council stated that the suspension of the right to representation was a temporary measure.

– Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu were included in the sanctions list. Assets frozen. The travel ban was introduced.

– Many Russian public institutions have been blocked from benefiting from EU financing.

– The regulation for the privileged entry of Russian diplomats and business people to EU countries was cancelled.

Economy and financial world

– Russia’s access to capital markets, electronic and software technology has been limited.

– The export of space industry equipment and spare parts to Russia is prohibited.

– The sale of aircraft spare parts and equipment to Russian airlines is prohibited.

– It was forbidden to send necessary equipment to Russia for refining oil.

– Sanctions will be imposed on important public companies, including the defence field.

– Russian nationals will not be able to deposit more than 100 thousand euros in EU banks.

Eurovision

Iceland, Finland, Norway and the Netherlands responded to the call to “exclude Russia from Eurovision”. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced that Russia will not be able to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest this year due to its attacks on Ukraine. EBU stated that this decision was taken because Russia intervened in Ukraine and added, “The inclusion of Russia in this year’s competition may damage the reputation of the competition.”

Sport

UEFA Champions League final St. It was taken from the city of St. Petersburg and given to Paris. Formula 1 management has removed the Russian Grand Prix from the 2022 calendar.

Swift crack!

However, the EU members could not agree among themselves that Russia should be removed from the system known as SWIFT (World Interbank Financial Communications Community) for short, which provides the electronic fund (money) transfer standard between all banks in the world. Ukraine’s call to the EU for this move, which will hit Russia’s trade with the world, remained unanswered. Many EU countries, especially Germany, asked for this measure to be postponed to a later date. Countries such as Germany, Italy, Hungary, Latvia and Cyprus opposed the SWIFT sanction due to problems in the supply of natural gas and other raw materials from Russia. But the White House has announced that the option to sanction Swift is still on the table.

White House

In line with the decision of the European allies, the United States decided to join the sanctions imposed on Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. (During the day, EU countries and Britain agreed to freeze all assets of Putin and Lavrov in Europe.) The US had decided to impose sanctions on Russia’s two largest banks and the Russian elite on Thursday. Sanctions were announced on the company that built Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline on Wednesday, and on some Russian banks and elites on Tuesday.

NATO and Article 5!

The NATO leg of the transatlantic alliance deployed additional land, air and sea defence forces in the eastern part of the organization. Explaining that Ukraine will be armed through Poland and Romania, additional defence force reinforcements will be made in the eastern part, and the Alliance’s Emergency Forces will be deployed to the member countries on the borders, the organization stated that it is fully committed to NATO’s Article 5. Article 5 of NATO means that the threat of war against one of the 30 NATO countries has come to all the pact member countries. Making a statement after the NATO Leaders’ Summit, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that cyber-attacks can also activate Article 5. (The 5th article of NATO, to which US President Joe Biden declared that they will remain loyal to the end, was applied for the first and only time in NATO’s history after the September 11 attacks in 2001…)

L’Ingilterra

Le sanzioni del’Ingilterra prendono di mira le principali Banche russe, 5 oligarchi Russi, più di 100 aziende e privati. Le attività di tutte le principali banche russe saranno congelate. Tutti gli asset di VTB Bank verranno immediatamente congelati. La compagnia aerea russa Aeroflot cesserà le operazioni. Analoghe sanzioni economiche saranno imposte alla Bielorussia.