A group of European countries not in the EU aligned with a recent EU sanctions decision on those who undermine Ukraine's sovereignty, the European Council announced. On Sept. 14, the council renewed for six months, until March 15, the sanctions regime. North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway also imposed the decision, the council said.
Switzerland added five Russian companies to its sanctions list to align with the EU's decision to add the entities in September, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs announced, according to an unofficial translation. The five companies -- RT Balkan, Oriental Review, New Eastern Outlook, Katehon and Tsargrad -- are Russian broadcasters.
Fifteen trade groups in the U.S. and the EU, led by a German machinery manufacturing organization, are asking the EU and the U.S. to settle their differences over American tariffs on steel and aluminum, and if they cannot by the end of the year, "at the very least, ensure that tariffs will not be reimposed if an agreement is not reached by the January 2024 deadline, even if this means that the deadline is extended." Technically, the two sides gave themselves an Oct. 31, 2023, deadline, but said that even if a deal was not reached by then, tariffs could not return until January 2024.
The European Council on Oct. 9 extended its sanctions regime on Nicaragua until Oct. 15, 2024. The restrictions apply to 21 people and three entities involved either in "serious human rights violations or abuses," the repression of civil society or in actions that undermine democracy and the rule of law in the Central American nation.
The European Council on Oct. 9 introduced a new sanctions regime covering people and entities that threaten the "peace, stability or security of Sudan," including those that bar the political transition in the African nation. The restrictions also apply to parties that obstruct the delivery or distribution of humanitarian aid or engage in acts that constitute serious human rights abuses.
The European Council on Oct. 9 extended until Oct. 16, 2026, its sanctions regime addressing the proliferation and use of chemical weapons for another three years. The council also extended the "existing restrictive measures" against people and entities sanctioned under the regime for another year until Oct. 16, 2024. The restrictions currently apply to 25 people and three entities.
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Oct. 6 removed Walid Hamid Tawfiq al-Tikriti from its Iraq sanctions regime. The move follows the U.N.'s decision last week to remove sanctions from al-Tikriti, an Iraqi national and governor of the Basrah province (see 2310060021).
The U.K. issued a sanctions license permitting sanctioned people and entities to make certain payments to the U.K.'s Companies House, the agency that "registers company information and makes it available to the public, and incorporates and dissolves limited companies," the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced. The payments are for fees owed by or due from sanctioned parties to this agency for filing a confirmation statement, and the payment of late filing penalty fees. The license took effect Oct. 6.
The U.K.'s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation on Oct. 10 extended a General License allowing U.K. parties to receive payments from a sanctioned party if the contract took effect before the party's designation. The license now runs through May 21. OFSI also altered the license to change the definition of "contractual obligation" to exclude contracts using certain types of financial instruments, expand the list of excluded contracts that involve financial instruments, and create another annex that lists other types of excluded contracts.
The European Parliament said the EU "must" adopt sanctions against Azerbaijani government officials who carried out human rights abuses in Nagorno-Karabakh. In a resolution adopted Oct. 5, the parliament said Azerbaijan's attack against the region on Sept. 19 amounts to "ethnic cleansing" and warrants sanctions.