OREANDA-NEWS The European Union notes an unusual increase in the flow of goods subject to anti-Russian sanctions to neighboring countries with the Russian Federation, including the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), asks them to explain the situation and stop such flows, said Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice President of the European Commission for Trade and Economy.

"Recently, EU countries have begun to consider the first dossiers on violations of restrictive measures adopted in 2022. This applies not only to EU countries, but also to third countries, where an unusual increase in commodity flows has been observed, including sub-sanctioned goods. This includes exports from the EU to Russia's neighboring countries, especially in the Eurasian Economic Union, as well as to other countries that have not joined the European sanctions.

We have asked the relevant countries to explain the abnormal flows and take effective measures to stop this," Dombrovskis said at a press conference in Brussels following a meeting of EU finance ministers. He stressed that bypassing European sanctions weakens their effectiveness and damages the EU's internal market, creating unfair competition. "The effectiveness of sanctions depends on their implementation. Stopping circumvention of sanctions will be the focus of the 11th package proposed by the European Commission," the EC Vice President recalled.