EU ministers back sanctions for chemical weapons use

Foreign ministers of 28 EU member-states backed a new regime of introducing sanctions against individuals and legal entities, deemed responsible for using and proliferating chemical weapons, the European Council said in a statement on Monday.

"The Council adopted a new regime of restrictive measures to address the use and proliferation of chemical weapons. This decision is a direct follow-up to the conclusions of the European Council of 28 June 2018," the statement said after a meeting in Luxembourg.

The EU will now "be able to impose sanctions on persons and entities involved in the development and use of chemical weapons anywhere, regardless of their nationality and location," it said.

"The restrictive measures target persons and entities who are directly responsible for the development and use of chemical weapons as well as those who provide financial, technical or material support, and those who assist, encourage or are associated with them," the document said.
EU sanctions

After the EU summit in late June, a decision was made to introduce new restrictions to fight against the use of chemical weapons. The step was announced a day after an emergency session of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague.

The session was convened at the initiative of the UK and the US in connection with the Salisbury poisoning of former Russian military intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia and also the accusations that the Syrian government forces used chemical weapons. The OPCW members enabled the organization to punish alleged violators by a majority vote.

Russia’s envoy to the OPCW Alexander Shulgin dismissed the decision as usurping the exclusive powers of the UN Security Council.