The Norwegian government has published a statement supporting the EU’s 14th package of sanctions against Russia.
“Russia is not investing in its own future, but is staking everything on a victory on the battlefield. This is having a major impact on Norwegian and European security,” said Minister of Foreign Affairs Espen Barth Eide.
The EU’s latest package of sanctions targets certain sectors of the Russian economy, including energy, finance, and trade. It also includes restrictions on 116 additional individuals and entities, and it significantly strengthens financial sanctions by banning EU banks from using the SPFS messaging system, which is Russia’s equivalent to SWIFT.
Additionally, Norway supports the EU legislation that allows extraordinary revenues generated from immobilised assets of the Central Bank of Russia to be used for supporting Ukraine.
The Central Bank of Norway has no assets, but it is important to support measures introduced by allies that can help Ukraine defend itself, the Norwegian government noted.