EU Commission to remove Russian banks from SWIFT cross-border network
The European Commission announced to remove a number of Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) messaging system, aimed at hindering Russia’s capacity to carry out cross-border payments.
In a joint statement released by the European Commission, leaders from France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States highlighted their shared interest in defending Ukraine from the war against Russia:
While condemning the Russian president Vladimir Putin’s move to lay siege across Ukraine, the EU Commission committed to undertake a series of measures to isolate Russia from the international financial system.
President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen announced five proactive measures against Russian authorities, starting with the removal of an undisclosed number of Russian banks from the SWIFT messaging system.
First, we commit to ensuring that a certain number of Russian banks are removed from SWIFT.⁰It will stop them from operating worldwide and effectively block Russian exports and imports.
In addition to cutting Russia’s ties with SWIFT, the EU Commission will “paralyze the assets of Russia’s central bank,” creating another financial barrier for the Russian central bank to liquidate assets. As for the third measure, EU Commission stated:
The EU Commission will soon launch a transatlantic task force to ensure effective implementation of all the sanctions, which primarily aims to freeze the overseas assets of Russian officials, elites and their family members. As a fifth measure, the Commission plans to increase coordination against disinformation and other forms of hybrid warfare.
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