Strasbourg, Helsinki Members of the EU Parliament interviewed by EPN want tougher extracts from the Commission to stop the flow of Russian oil in the Baltic Sea. Tanker rally current sanctions have not stopped.
The first sanctions for Russian oil and gas transport were set by the United States. On January 10, it added more than 180 ships to its sanctions list, many of which also belong to the so -called Russian Shadow Equipment.
The followed the course of sanctuary tankers in the first week of open sources in the Baltic Sea.
More than thirty sanctuary tankers visited the Baltic Sea or anchored in the Gulf of Finland.
Most of them were vessels from the US newest or EU in December. Many expect long periods in the Gulf of Finland to get a cargo from Russia’s ports.
The shadow fleet transported by Russian, Iranian and Venezuela oil includes 669 tankers. Of these, 35 percent are now sanctions, says the news site following maritime traffic Lloyd’s List.
Professor of Maritime Traffic at Tallinn University of Technology Ulla Tapaninen Said in January that sanctions would focus too much on tankers. The attention should be in the buyer countries.
Sanctions strike ships more widely
The latest US sanctions are on the entire oil production and oil export chain.
The targets are two Russian oil companies, dozens of oil retailers, oil field service providers, insurance companies and industry authorities
US sanctions are due to enter into force in late winter unless president Donald Trump The administration intervened.
Sanctions on the entire chain have already had consequences.
The Chinese Shandong Port Group harbor operator began in January to prevent US sanctions from reaching its ports.
Denkka could stop the ships
The EU should also take the next step in improving the sanctions and can be difficult.
According to MEPs following the shadow fleet, EU sanctions are ineffective. There are only 80 ships on the Union’s sanctions list.
Danish straits are a gateway to the Baltic Sea, so especially Denmark has been needed to stop the shadow fleet.
Greens representing the Danish Memple, Former Foreign Minister Villy Søvndal Would take control over the Danish account.
– We should demand insurance from ships operating from Denmark’s Salmi in Denmark in order to find a payer in the event of a disaster. If there is no insurance, the Danish straits would not pass.
By sanctions, we weaken the Russian war machine and those who contribute to this war.
Kaja Kallas, EU foreign policy representative
Groupmate Ville Niinistö (Green) also considers the insurance requirement to be the most effective way.
– Insurance is usually missing because the ships are so poor. It is given to a ship that meets modern shipping safety standards.
However, the Danish government and the EU Commission are afraid that preventing ships would go to international maritime law, Russia could win.
Europe must clean up its own nest
MEPs also want to extend control to the underlying chain of shadows.
The EU’s next 16 sanctional package may already contain wider sanctions, for example, for shadow ship owners.
“The most important thing would be to take responsibility for shipowners and countries that allow these ships to be traveled,” says Estonian Vice-President of the EU Parliament Defense Committee Riho Terras.
Finnish member of the Defense Committee Pekka Comrade (co.) emphasizes the imposition of sanctions for flags, including European states.
– Ship owners also need to be held accountable. Here, too, more than thirty percent of the shadow ship is owned by Europeans.
The ownership and registration of the shadow ships has been faded. In Europe, some ships are suspected of being in the register of Malta, Cyprus and Greece.
According to Søvndal, non-EU flag states must be warned that they violate anti-Russian sanctions and may result in consequences.
According to him, companies that work with the shadow fleet must be held accountable in different countries.
“Some help, for example, by supplying fuel to the vessels,” Søvndal says
Ville Niinistö also emphasizes that sanctions must be ordered to Europeans in the future if they sell ships to Russia.
“Thumbs up for too long”
The EU has also been considering taking over the shadow ships.
Politicon The ships could be included under international law for environmental or pirate reasons.
Estonian Riho Terras suspects the means due to the large number of ships. As a former commander of the Estonian Defense Forces, he would not solve the problem of the shadow ships by bringing war ships to the Baltic Sea.
Maritime law experts heard by the Parliament Defense Committee did not see an obstacle to extension of sanctions.
In the EU, all Member States must be unanimously behind sanctions. For example, Malta may not be publicly crossed if there is a risk of bringing the shadow ship to daylight.
According to Comrade, it is quite possible to proceed in sanctions.
– Thumbs up here for too long. Now you have to take action.