World
Explained: The EU’s last-resort tool to chase after Russia’s enablers

The European Union is getting serious about sanctions circumvention.
After slapping Russia with ten rounds of sanctions at a record-breaking speed, it has become painfully evident that not everything is working according to the plan.
Brussels has detected an unusual surge in EU-made goods being exported to countries that are either located in Russia’s periphery or politically close to the Kremlin.
Coincidentally, these products, which include machinery parts, valves, cranes, semiconductors, chemicals and even daily appliances such as microwaves, dishwashers and freezers, happen to be strictly prohibited in EU-Russia trade.
These anomalous transactions do not often correspond with the economic needs or historic trends of the purchasing countries, leading policymakers to conclude that a great share of this merchandise is being surreptitiously re-routed to Moscow and used to prop up the armed forces trying to invade Ukraine.
In other words, circumvention.
This explains why the new raft of EU sanctions, approved on Wednesday after a month and a half of behind-the-scenes negotiations, has as its prime goal the crackdown on evasion.
The penalties target three companies from Hong Kong, two from the United Arab Emirates, two from Uzbekistan, one from Syria, one from Armenia and one from Iran, all of them suspected of helping the Kremlin get its hands on blacklisted goods.
This marks the first time that firms based in China, one of the bloc’s largest trading partners, become directly entangled in the EU’s hard-hitting response to Russia’s war of aggression.
But the real novelty in the latest package of sanctions is a radical tool that will allow Brussels to go after entire countries, rather than specific businesses, that are suspected of enabling circumvention.
The tool will be triggered when the evasion is considered widespread, systematic and long-lasting, taking place across a variety of companies, and will restrict the sale and transfer of a product, or group of products, to the country under scrutiny.
In practice, the tool will declare the nation to be an active accomplice in the circumvention – or at least a permissive participant that turns the other way.
It will come, however, with strings attached.
EU officials insist the tool will kick in as a “last resort” in exceptional circumstances, when other methods, such as diplomatic outreach and targeted restrictions, have failed to yield results.
The European Commission will propose the activation only after drawing up a thorough data analysis and engaging in consultations with the suspected country. Member states will then decide by unanimity whether to move ahead.
The mechanism will apply to blacklisted products that are assembled by EU companies or in EU territory, rather than those made elsewhere, and might enhance Russia’s ability to wage war in Ukraine.
“We don’t target alternative suppliers,” said a senior EU official, speaking on condition of anonymity. “There is always an EU link.”
Once triggered, the anti-circumvention tool will be under constant review and switched off if the penalised country provides sufficiently convincing assurances that the evasion will be stamped out for good.
Given its stringent conditions for activation and the diplomatic risks of publicly name-shaming another nation as a circumvention enabler, it is unlikely the new tool will be triggered on a frequent and regular basis.
Instead, officials and diplomats suggest, the mechanism will be used as a carrot-and-stick strategy by David O’Sullivan, the special envoy for EU sanctions, to prod countries into respecting the bloc’s regulations.
Over the past months, O’Sullivan has travelled to the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Serbia and Armenia, with Georgia scheduled next.

World
Russia and Ukraine to hold first direct peace talks in over 3 years

World
Melania Trump statue sawed off at the ankles and stolen in Slovenia

A bronze statue of Melania Trump was sawed off at the ankles and stolen this week in the first lady’s native Slovenia, police said.
The statue replaced a wooden one that was erected near her hometown of Sevnica in 2020 at the end of President Donald Trump’s first term after it was targeted in an arson attack.
Both statues were a collaboration between Brad Downey, an artist from Kentucky, and a local craftsman, Ales “Maxi” Zupevc.
The original figure, made of wood and cut from the trunk of a linden tree, portrayed the first lady in a pale blue dress, similar to the one she wore at Trump’s 2016 inauguration.
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A bronze statue of Melania Trump was sawed off at the ankles and stolen this week in the first lady’s native Slovenia, police said. (Associated Press)
The new statue was placed on the same stump as the old one and modeled after the previous design. In July 2020, Downey said the statue would be made “as solid as possible, out of a durable material which cannot be wantonly destroyed,” according to The Guardian.
Slovenian police spokesperson Alenka Drenik Rangus said Friday that police were investigating after the vandalism and theft were reported Tuesday.
Franja Kranjc, a worker at a bakery that sells cakes with the first lady’s name in support of her, told The Associated Press the rustic likeness wasn’t well liked.

Only the ankles remain of a Melania Trump statue that was sawed off and stolen, Slovenian police said. (AP Photo/Relja Dusek)
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“I think no one was really proud at this statue, not even the first lady of the USA,” Kranjc said. “So, I think it’s OK that it’s removed.”
Zupevc said he and Melania Trump were born in the same hospital, which partly inspired him to create the design. He carved the statue with a chainsaw and sanded it with a power tool.

The statue was a rustic likeness of the first lady. (Getty Images)
“I plugged in my angle grinder. … I worked and made mistakes … finished the hair … the eyes and all. Then, I called my brother, who said, ‘Spitting image of our waitress.’ And so it was,” Zupevc said during a documentary film by Downey on the making of the original statue.
A plaque next to the statue says it is “dedicated to the eternal memory of a monument to Melania which stood at this location.”
Born Melanija Knavs in nearby Novo Mesto in 1970, the first lady grew up in Sevnica while Slovenia was part of the Communist-ruled former Yugoslavia. An Alpine nation of 2 million people, Slovenia is now a member of the European Union and NATO.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
World
Commissioner Hansen presents plan to cut farming bureaucracy in EU

European Commissioner for Agriculture Christophe Hansen presented his simplification plan for the agricultural sector during a meeting organised by Euronews.
The European Commission unveiled the plan, which aims to simplify the European Union’s agricultural rulebook, on Wednesday in Brussels.
The measures are designed to reduce what the Commission sees as unnecessary administrative burdens in implementing the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the EU’s farming subsidy framework.
Hansen believes the proposed strategy should serve all stakeholders. The plan, therefore, aims to reduce the administrative burden for farmers and member states.
“What is felt to be an administrative burden on the farm is not only the CAP (Common Agricultural Policy), but also environmental legislation, health legislation, and often national or regional legislation, so I think that everyone must contribute to reducing this bureaucracy,” Hansen explained.
This simplification plan could potentially save farmers up to €1.58 billion a year and the national authorities €210 million. The package of measures is aimed in particular at organic farming and small farms, which play an essential role in rural areas’ economic activity.
The plan proposes exemptions from environmental rules, also known as conditionalities. Hansen points out that this package aims not to reform the sector, but to adjust certain rules.
For example, Hansen said, “If grassland remains in place for more than five years, it becomes permanent grassland. This is a devaluation of this farmland because it can no longer be used as arable land. After four years or so, farmers plough to preserve this status.”
“For me, it’s more valuable if the grass stays for seven years rather than five. So this is environmental progress. It’s the applicability (of the rules) that changes,” he added.
Flexibility and financial support
The European Commission also wants to help small farmers obtain financial aid and make their farms more competitive. The institution is considering an offer of up to €50,000.
Hansensuggested digitalising the sector, mentioning, for example, a digital portfolio to facilitate checks.
“I, as a farm, have my digital wallet and if the water authority needs to know something about my land, they can turn to that wallet,” Hansen explained.
Hansen further reiterated his desire to make the profession attractive again and to help professionals.
“It’s very important that we reduce the stress on our farmers, because at the moment it all depends on the Member State. They have to deal with five, six, seven controls a year, which causes enormous stress for our farmers,” Hansen insisted.
“That’s why we also want to reduce these controls, and the member states are also obliged to act. We want to reduce the number of checks to just one a year,” he added.
Environmental NGOs believe that the plan threatens the agricultural sector’s green objectives. Hansen, however, rejects this criticism and emphasises that he is responding to the concerns of farmers, who have repeatedly protested against overly restrictive European regulations.
Yet, this simplification plan is only the first step. The European Commission intends to present new measures later this year.
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