Designation of the Wagner Group as a terrorist organisation
24.1.2023
Priority question for written answer P-000194/2023
to the Council
Rule 138
Tomáš Zdechovský (PPE)
The US Treasury Department will designate the Wagner Group, the Russian mercenary organisation, as a ‘transnational criminal organization’. It has also been reported that the Wagner Group commands 50 000 fighters in Ukraine and has been involved in capturing Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. Moreover, the Wagner Group’s first operation was helping Russia to annex Crimea in 2014. This designation will allow the US to apply wider sanctions to the paramilitary group, including travel bans and blocking the property and property interests of designated persons and those who have contributed to or control the group. Current EU measures target the Wagner Group itself, as well as eight individuals and three entities connected to the group.
- 1.Will the Council consider implementing equivalent measures to the US by designating the Wagner Group as a transnational criminal organisation?
- 2.Will it react to Parliament’s resolution from November 2022 urging the European Council to place the Wagner Group on the terrorist list?
- 3.How does the Council monitor the Wagner Group, which seems to have ‘become the brand name for an unofficial Russian network’ of operatives, companies and businesses serving as proxy actors who further Russia’s geopolitical interests?
Submitted: 24.1.2023