Sanctions against Russia are undermined by weak enforcement, EU critics say. writing.
Failure to enforce sanctions consistently is a "key risk" undermining the "effective implementation" of the bloc's trade sanctions on Russia.
The European Agency for the Control of Foreign Assets (EFA) found "significant differences" in the implementation of sanctions in the five countries analyzed: Bulgaria, Germany, Latvia, the Netherlands and Poland.
The report notes that Bulgaria, considered one of the EU's friendliest countries to Russia, has not reported a single case of non-compliance with the bloc's trade sanctions on EU exports transiting through the Black Sea country since 2022.
By contrast, Latvia – one of the most aggressive EU countries against Russia – reported 2,100 cases of EU export non-compliance in 2024 alone.
Similarly, the auditors noted a case where goods approved for export in Italy were returned to the country after being flagged by Polish customs authorities. The same goods were then sent directly to Russia via the Italian port.
The report noted other problems, including "imprecise" language in the sanctions legislation, insufficient information sharing between national governments and a lack of "common criteria" for evaluating the effectiveness of sanctions.
It was uncomfortable.