Committee wants the Wagner Group to be added to the EU terrorist list
Published:
The Committee on Foreign Affairs proposes that the Riksdag call on the Government by way of an announcement to actively seek to achieve consensus within the EU to list the state-funded Russian Wagner Group as a terrorist group under the EU’s terrorist sanctions.
In connection with the proposed announcement, the Committee on Foreign Affairs also points out that it will probably be necessary to upgrade the EU’s regulatory framework for terrorist listing in order to better respond to threats from actors with connections to the state.
In a reservation, the Social Democratic Party, Left Party, Centre Party and Green Party propose that the Riksdag also make an announcement regarding an overview of the regulations, in order to upgrade them to encompass current threats and so that they can be applied against state groups that commit terrorist acts, such as the Wagner Group and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. According to the reservation, a formal listing of the Wagner Group as a terrorist group under the EU’s terrorist sanctions is justified, with reference to the acts that the Wagner Group has committed and is committing, for example, in Ukraine, Syria and several African countries, which must be regarded as terrorist acts. According to the current regulatory framework, a precondition for terrorist listing is that a decision has been taken to initiate investigations or prosecution for a terrorist act by the group. There must, in order words, be ongoing or completed legal proceedings against the group. The members of the Riksdag behind the reservation consider that it should be possible to find a legally secure model that allows listing of decisions without the requirement of prior legal measures.
The Committee on Foreign Affairs’ proposal regarding an announcement was presented in connection with the Committee’s consideration of a written communication from the Government on activities in the European Union in 2022, with associated private members’ motions, among other things, on sanctions against Russia.
Planned date of debate and decision
The debate is scheduled on Monday 19 June and the decision on Tuesday 20 June. The debate and decision will be broadcast on the Riksdag webcast service and can be viewed live or on-demand.
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Contact person for the media
Jakob Nyström, Secretary to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, telephone +46 8 786 59 16, email jakob.nystrom@riksdagen.se