The European Union would add four Russian state media outlets to its blacklist as part of the 14th package of sanctions, Euractiv reported.
Other measures of the 14th package of sanctions against Moscow are still in the early stages of discussion after a meeting of EU ambassadors on Wednesday, May 15. Commissioner for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova stated:
Four Kremlin-linked propaganda networks [have been] added to the sanctions list: Voice of Europe, RIA Novosti, Izvestija, and Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
The media sanctions affect both online media and newspapers. While EU envoys have yet to specify the measures that will be applied to these outlets, Russian media sanctioned for propaganda, such as Sputnik and RT, have lost broadcasting rights within the bloc in previous rounds.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that Western journalists could face difficulties in response to future sanctions.
I want to remind all those Brussels hotheads that there are dozens of journalists from EU countries who live very nicely and comfortably in Russia. If such measures are adopted against Russian journalists and media by the EU or by individual countries (…) we will respond immediately and very painfully against the Westerners.
EU lawmakers hope to enshrine the new measure by the end of June, before Hungary takes over the rotating presidency of the EU Council.
Furthermore, France and the Netherlands have jointly proposed sanctions against any financial institution around the world that helps Russia pay for goods or technology to produce military equipment.
According to EU diplomats, such a ban would be a “powerful tool” to combat circumvention of EU restrictive measures in third countries, as it would affect their position on financial markets. However, such a move would need further coordination with other partners. The US reportedly wields considerably more market power than Europe.
