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EU sanctions Russian firms behind Crimea bridge
Summary
A look back at the European Union's 31 July 2018 decision to penalise companies building the link between mainland Russia and the annexed peninsula.
What did the European Union aim to signal when it targeted the builders of the Crimea bridge? On 31 July 2018, the EU imposed sanctions on six Russian companies involved in constructing the bridge that connects mainland Russia to the annexed Crimean peninsula.
The measure fell within Russia–European Union relations and focused on firms rather than on the structure itself. By naming companies engaged in the project, the EU tied its sanctions to a specific piece of infrastructure linking Russia with the territory it annexed.
The wider context
Russia invaded the Crimean Peninsula of Ukraine in February and March 2014, occupied it, and then annexed it after a referendum that has been described as illegitimate. That took place amid the uncertainty that followed Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity. The annexation was the first time since World War II that a European country had annexed part of another, and it marked the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian war.
Seen against that background, the sanctions of 31 July 2018 extended the EU's response from the annexation itself to the construction work that physically connected the peninsula to Russia. The decision placed commercial actors, not only political ones, within the scope of the measures.
The announcement named no further steps, and the decision on 31 July 2018 stands as a targeted action against six companies involved in the bridge's construction.
