(Washington Insider Magazine)-Five of the 27 countries in the EU signed a joint proposal to the EU to ban exports of Russian diamonds.
Further action from bloc countries against Russia was ignited after President Vladimir Putin ordered military mobilization in Russia.
So far, the EU has implemented six rounds of sanctions on Moscow since Russia first invaded Ukraine in February. The EU must now come together to agree on a Russian diamond ban for Russian imports.
Though heavily requested by some of the bloc’s countries, the ban has been rejected before. Belgium is home to the world’s largest diamond trading hub in Antwerp, the largest city in Belgium.
Ireland, Lithuania, Estonia, and other EU countries challenged the EU to impose a ban on all imports from Russia. Russia is home to the world’s top manufacturer of rough diamonds.
The European Commissioner is set to implement more sanctions on Russia and neighboring states this week.
While Belgium’s foreign minister is yet to comment on the proposal, Prime Minister Alexander de Cro has cited that the ban could have a detrimental impact on Belgium’s economy.
Belgium’s exports of diamonds support thousands of jobs in the country, and the industry accounts for 5% of Belgium’s overall exports.
The EU commissioner, however, has said that they expect to renegotiate the proposal with diplomats and ministers until they make a final verdict.
If they fail to agree to the current Russian diamond ban proposal, the outcome of the negotiations will be decided in Prague by 27 EU leaders.
The proposal also highlights further sanctions on Moscow.
This includes the banning of insurance services to Russia from any EU companies for the Russian government and corporations.
The leaders have also put forward the prohibition of commerce of exports made in the EU with a particular focus on technology so as to weaken Russia’s ability to execute communications throughout the war.
Finally, the group suggested an EU-wide ban on any use of technology made by Kaspersky labs, a Russian leader in antivirus software.
The primary aim of the Russian diamond ban is ultimately to hurt Russia’s oligarchs who make a lot of their income from diamond production.
