The institutions of the European Union are limited in the means of pressure on Russia, including the issue of disconnecting from the SWIFT payment system. This was stated by the EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Josep Borrell at a meeting that was broadcast on the website of the European Parliament (EP) on April 28.
“SWIFT is an international private organization, in this sense the European Union has no competence <...> Nord Stream 2 is a controversial topic. The EC has already said that this project does not serve to diversify the EU’s energy sources. But this is the responsibility of private companies, the EU does not have the tools to decide on the fate of this private project, ”he said.
Borrell noted that if Nord Stream 2 is implemented, the European Union will demand that the pipeline “work transparently and without discrimination, with an adequate level of control.” According to the head of European diplomacy, foreign policy “remains the prerogative” of the EU. He added that the EU countries must remain united.
“It is in the capitals of the EU that the policy towards Russia is determined. We in the EU are trying to build a single foreign policy line <...> If there is no unity, then there will be no common European policy, ”he said.
Borrell stressed that the EU-Russia relations will face a long period of confrontation, for which Brussels “must be ready”.
Earlier that day, the European Parliament in a draft resolution called on the European Union to stop the implementation of Nord Stream 2. In the document, the EP insists that the EU should reduce its dependence on Russian energy.
Also, the European Parliament proposed to disconnect Russia from SWIFT and abandon oil and gas “in the event of continued aggression in Ukraine.”
As Vladimir Dzhabarov, the first deputy chairman of the Federation Council committee on international affairs, told Izvestia, the draft resolution of the European Parliament calling on the European Union to stop the implementation of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project is completely empty. As for the appeal of the European Parliament to disconnect the Russian Federation from SWIFT, the senator noted that Russia is ready for such a scenario and can turn on its own system.
SWIFT is an interbank system for exchanging data and making payments, to which over 11 thousand of the largest organizations in almost all countries are connected. The media regularly publish publications that Russia may be disconnected from it as one of the measures of tougher Western sanctions.
The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is being built from Russia to Germany along the Baltic seabed with the aim of direct and reliable gas supplies to Europe. The EU countries mainly support the project and participate in its implementation. The United States, Ukraine, the Baltic States and Poland are opposed.
