Union demand: Wagner should be considered a terrorist group

demand of the Union
Wagner is said to be a terrorist group

There are already sanctions at EU level against the Russian mercenary group Wagner. That’s not enough for the Union faction. The mercenaries should be listed as a terrorist group, she demands. But the federal government is unlikely to follow suit.

The CDU and CSU are demanding in the Bundestag that the Russian mercenary group Wagner be classified as a terrorist group. The joint parliamentary group of the two parties in the Bundestag submitted a corresponding application, which is to be voted on in the evening. “The Wagner Group must be named for what it is: a state-sponsored terrorist organization. This is the only way the organization can be completely and internationally outlawed, which would result in a further weakening of Putin’s imperialist regime,” the statement said Application.

However, the federal government is very reluctant to do so. She sees high hurdles, as if from a Response from the Federal Foreign Office to a small question from the Union faction emerges. “The legal requirements for an EU listing as a terrorist organization are high,” it says. According to the Federal Foreign Office, a comprehensive package of evidence is required for a terrorist listing, which must be based on openly accessible information. Otherwise they cannot be used in court.

In its application, the Union faction calls on the federal government to “take a leading role in the development of the legal documents required for the listing of evidence and to actively promote this process”. In addition, Ukrainian investigators are to be given more support in solving crimes committed by the Wagner group. International initiatives against Wagner should also be given more help “financially, organizationally and politically”. In short: Germany should do everything necessary at EU level to implement the listing as a terrorist group.

sanctions already in force

Legally, that is possible, the application says: “Due to the participation of the Wagner group in the fighting and massive human rights violations in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Federal Public Prosecutor is investigating against Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin. This is the legal prerequisite for a listing of the Wagner group group as a terrorist group in the EU.”

Represents a person or a group on the EU terrorist list, their assets will be frozen in the EU, and EU citizens will be forbidden to donate money to these organizations. The Federal Foreign Office had pointed out that the EU had already imposed various sanctions on the Wagner Group and on a total of 19 people and 10 organizations associated with it.

Accordingly, the assets of the persons and organizations included in the lists were frozen within the EU. In addition, the persons concerned are banned from entering the EU. In addition, persons and organizations in the EU may not directly or indirectly provide funds and resources to persons and organizations on the sanctions lists.

The EU states had put the Wagner mercenaries on their sanctions list because of their active participation in the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. The measure was justified in Brussels with the fact that the actions of the Wagner group undermined and threatened “the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine”. There are also other sanctions for Wagner crimes in Syria, Libya and Mali.

The mercenary group first emerged in 2014 when Russian fighters covertly invaded Ukraine. To this day, it is led by Putin confidant Prigozhin. It later played a key role in the Russian operation in Syria, and the group is also active in Mali and elsewhere in Africa.

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