Løkke: Expensive cars unusually sold to Kazakhstan
The EU will soon be ready with an 11th package of sanctions to curb possible exports of sanctioned goods to Russia, according to Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen after a ministerial meeting in Brussels on Monday. “We are working intensively to create an 11th sanctions package. The Danish position is that we support the toughest possible sanctions, and I am confident that this will fall into place,” Løkke Rasmussen said.
In the ten existing sanctions packages, EU countries have tried to prevent Russia from importing, among other things, important components for drones and other military equipment. In Brussels, however, there is concern that Russia is importing the otherwise sanctioned goods via third countries. In theory, this can be done by companies in a third country buying goods which are then sold on to Russia.
“The focus is on avoiding the circumvention of sanctions. Because we can see some rather strange trade figures, where suddenly in Kazakhstan you start buying a lot of European cars that you have not bought before. If you look at the figures, you can see that something is going on. We need to be sure that our sanctions regime is as effective as possible,” says Løkke Rasmussen.
Diplomatic circles hope that the sanctions package can be put in place during May. However, as in previous negotiations, Hungary is reluctant. “We must make the decision by consensus. Therefore, right now it is the slowest ship in the convoy that sets the pace. This should not obscure the fact that we will produce a strong 11th package of sanctions. It just wasn’t today,” says Lars Løkke Rasmussen. /ritzau/