Sanctions upheld on Russian energy firms
The European Union’s top court has upheld restrictive measures adopted by the 27-nation bloc against Russian oil and gas companies in connection with Moscow’s actions in Ukraine. The Luxembourg-based Court of Justice announced on September 17 that it had upheld a judgment by a lower EU court dismissing an action against the sanctions slapped on companies that are part of state oil giant Rosneft, saying the measures “have been duly justified and are suitable for putting pressure on Russia because of its role” in the Ukraine crisis. Beginning in July 2014, the European Council adopted restrictive measures on the Russian bank and energy sectors in Russia in response to its annexation of the Crimean peninsula and its support for militants fighting in eastern Ukraine. Those measures include prohibitions on the export of certain products and technologies to the oil and gas sector and restrictions on the access of certain operators in that sector to the EU capital market. A number of Russian companies that are part of Rosneft had brought the action before the General Court and asked for the annulment of the measures. The General Court dismissed that action in September 2018, prompting the companies to appeal further to the Court of Justice. The September 17 ruling noted that the court “dismisses the companies’ appeal in its entirety.” The judges said the companies in question “could not reasonably have been unaware of the reasons why the targeted restrictions at issue were imposed on them” and that both the export prohibitions and the restrictions on access to the EU capital market “clearly contribute” to achieving the objective pursued by the European Council: increasing the costs of the Russian actions against Ukraine’s sovereignty and promoting a peaceful settlement of the crisis. The decision is also in line with two key international agreements: the 1994 EU-Russian Partnership Agreement and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, they said. The European Council welcomed the ruling, saying it “demonstrated the legitimacy, legal robustness and strength of the EU’s sanctions in place for Russia’s destabilizing actions in Ukraine.” Spokesman Peter Stano said, “The sanctions in place are a key element of the EU’s efforts to bring a solution to the crisis in Ukraine that respects its territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence.” (RFE/RL)
Russian court sentences Crimean Tatars
A court in Russia has sentenced seven Crimean Tatars to lengthy prison terms on charges of being members of a banned Islamic group. On September 16, the Southern Military Regional court in the city of Rostov-on-Don sentenced Marlen Asanov, Memet Belyalov, Timur Ibragimov, Seyran Saliyev, Server Mustafayev, Server Zekiryayev and Edem Smailov to prison terms of between 13 and 19 years. All were found guilty of being members of the Hizb ut-Tahrir Islamic group, which is labeled as extremist and banned in Russia but is legal in Ukraine. An eighth defendant, Ernes Ametov, was acquitted. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) branch in Crimea said earlier that Messrs. Smailov and Mustafayev, a coordinator of the Crimean Solidarity human rights group, were arrested in May 2018, while the other men were arrested in Crimea in October 2017. Rights groups and Western governments have denounced what they have called a persistent campaign of oppression targeting Crimean Tatars and other citizens who opposed Moscow’s forcible annexation of the peninsula. Russia occupied and seized Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014. The majority of Crimean Tatars opposed the Russian takeover of their historic homeland. (Crimea Desk, RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service)
Austria rejects halting Nord Stream 2
Austria has said it still supports the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, despite growing reservations about the project in parts of Europe following the poisoning of Russian opposition figure Aleksei Navalny. President Alexander Van der Bellen said on September 15 that there should be no connection between the Navalny case and Nord Stream 2, a nearly complete pipeline that will bring gas from Russia to Europe beneath the Baltic Sea. Mr. Van der Bellen was speaking alongside visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose country receives vital income from the transit of Russian gas and fears being weakened by Nord Stream 2. Austria’s OMV is one of the European companies in the consortium involved in financing the $11 billion pipeline. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, also speaking next to Mr. Zelenskyy later in the day, echoed Mr. Van der Bellen’s view that there was no need to halt Nord Stream 2 because of Mr. Navalny’s poisoning. The pipeline is “economically a positive project,” Mr. Kurz said. The conservative chancellor added that the project was about energy diversification for Europe. Mr. Zelenskyy said he understood Austria’s economic and business interests, but that Nord Stream 2 is tied with Ukraine’s energy security and the future flow of energy to Europe. He said he hoped the pipeline would be seen “from our point of view.” Austria’s fellow EU members Poland and the Baltic states are also opposed to Nord Stream 2, and the United States has sought to halt the project with sanctions that have infuriated European capitals. Germany has been one of Nord Stream 2’s biggest proponents, but there are growing calls within Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition government and the opposition to halt the pipeline over the Navalny poisoning if Moscow doesn’t cooperate with a transparent investigation. Mr. Navalny suddenly fell ill on a Russian domestic flight on August 20 and was medically evacuated to Germany, where a military laboratory found the anti-corruption campaigner had been poisoned with a Soviet-style military nerve agent from the Novichok group. Russian authorities have refused to open a criminal investigation, saying that no hard evidence of poisoning has been found. (RFE/RL, with reporting by AFP and Die Presse)
Investigators summon Andriy Bohdan
Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigations (DBR) has summoned the former chief of the presidential administration, Andriy Bohdan, for questioning after a controversial interview he gave to journalist Dmytro Gordon, in which he spoke about the sensitive issue of Crimea. “On September 9, in his interview to a media outlet, the former chief of the Presidential Office, Andriy Bohdan, made public information about the alleged existence of agreements with Russian officials about the status of [the Russia-annexed Ukrainian peninsula of] Crimea, air communication with Russia, the exchange of prisoners, and a number of other agreements that are not supported by [Ukraine’s] laws and regulations, and by other orders of the Supreme Commander of Ukraine’s Armed Forces,” the DBR said in a statement, adding that Mr. Bohdan had been summoned for questioning “due to the social significance of the issues raised.” In the interview with Mr. Gordon, issued on September 9, Mr. Bohdan, who was relieved of his duties in February, said that Ukraine had not implemented promises given to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the normalization of ties between the two countries, made allegations about individuals who can influence Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and suggested possible ways to fix what he called “mistakes” made by Mr. Zelenskyy since he took office last year. Mr. Bohdan wrote on Facebook on September 9 that he had left Ukraine for Romania after receiving threats following the interview. Mr. Bohdan’s appointment to the post of the chief of the Presidential Office in May 2019, after Mr. Zelenskyy won the presidential election, sparked controversy as he used to be a lawyer for the powerful tycoon Ihor Kolomoisky. (RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service)