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It has been five days since the Russian invasion of Ukraine started, and European countries have made a number of moves to show their disapproval without becoming directly involved with the war. As Russia continues to ignore the warnings, additional measures were deemed necessary. Consequently, the EU Commission has announced that it will remove numerous Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system.
SWIFT, or Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, is a network used by international banks and financial institutions to process global financial transactions. Preventing Russian banks from accessing SWIFT greatly restricts the country’s ability to participate in global financial markets.
The move was announced in a joint statement by several EU leaders, including those from France, Italy, Germany, Canada, and the USA. They all highlighted a shared interest in stopping Russia’s actions and forcing it to halt its invasion of Ukraine. The announcement reads that the EU Commission will “hold Russia to account and collectively ensure that the war is a strategic failure for Putin.”
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the EU Commission, revealed five proactive measures taken against the country’s authorities. The first one was the removal of Russian banks from the SWIFT system, although it is unclear how many banks were removed at this time.
Following this measure, the EU Commission also decided to paralyze the Russian Central Bank’s assets and make it impossible for the bank to liquidate much of its capital. The Commission has also committed to limiting the sale of citizenships. Until now, wealthy Russians with ties to the country’s government were capable of becoming citizens of nearly any country, but this privilege has now been revoked.
Moving forward, the EU Commission intends to launch a transatlantic task force that will ensure that all sanctions against the country are adequately implemented. The primary focus will be on freezing the overseas assets of Russian officials. The goal is to turn up the pressure on Russian elites and their families–to influence the war from the inside.
Finally, the last measure calls for an increase in coordination against disinformation and other forms of so-called hybrid warfare. However, the effectiveness of this measure remains questionable, given that Russian billionaires can circumvent nearly any sanctions by turning to cryptocurrencies.
In 2021, the Russian Central Bank expressed a desire to impose a blanket ban on crypto. However, Putin objected to this idea, seemingly predicting the financial restrictions about to squeeze his country.