EU banned Russian ships from entering its ports

Starting today, ports of all EU countries are closed for Russian ships. On April 18, 2022, the respective EU directive came into force, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andriy Yermak posted in his Telegram.

The ban will apply to all vessels with Russian flag. The ships that changed their Russian flag to alternative after February 24 are also under the sanctions and cannot operate in EU ports.

The restriction at the same time will not apply to ships that send a SOS alert (Mayday). The decisions in such cases to be made individually.

“We will monitor whether the Russian Federation uses such exceptions to avoid ban,” Andriy Yermak assured.

Romania, Italy, Belgium, Estonia and Bulgaria were the first EU countries to refuse to accept Russian ships.

According to Estonian Minister of Economy and Infrastructure Taavi Aas, the Europe is rethinking its economic activities and becoming increasingly independent of Russia.

“Kremlin is showing no signs of ending its aggression, so Europe is gradually looking for strategic ways to make the cost of the war so high that the prospect of continuing the military offensive on Ukraine disappears. Not only countries, but companies connected to Russia need to rethink their activities to cope with the new economic terms,” Taavi Aas added.

As reported by GMK Center, on April 8, the European Union approved a new package of sanctions against Russia. It includes coal imports, ports entering and trucking bans.