EU to Put Russia on Money Laundering Blacklist

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen during a meeting of EU members in Strasbourg on September 15, 2021. (CC-BY-4.0 © European Union 2021 - Source EP)

JAKARTA - The head of foreign policy of the European Union (EU) who is also the former Prime Minister of Estonia, Kaja Kallas, encouraged the EU to include Russia on the black list of countries suspected of money laundering.

Kaja's appeal was made at a meeting of EU member states in Brussels, quoted by Tass on Thursday, January 29.

"We will put Russia on the money laundering blacklist because they are using these ways to fund this war [the conflict in Ukraine]," Kallas said.

"I think any way to pressure Russia into real negotiations is good," he added.

This blacklist imposes additional obligations on European banks to monitor any transactions related to the countries listed on the blacklist.

This also allows the EU to pressure other countries to tighten controls on financial transactions with blacklisted countries.