International sanctions

The Bulgarian Finance Ministry on Tuesday published a longlist of the persons who fall, or could potentially fall, within the scope of sanctions imposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) with the US Department of the Treasury.

Bulgaria's caretaker government has decided to set up a working group to take action in response to the sanctions imposed by the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Council of Ministers' press office said.

The European Union prolonged for another year a sanctions framework for restrictive measures on persons or entities, including from Russia, whom Brussels deems as responsible for cyber-attacks, the Council of the EU said.

The US has announced sanctions against Russia in response to what it says are cyber-attacks and other hostile acts.

The measures, which target dozens of Russian entities and officials, aim to deter "Russia's harmful foreign activities", the White House said.

China on Monday blacklisted 10 EU individuals and four entities in response to Brussels' sanctions against Chinese officials over alleged human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region.

Washington is expected to impose sanctions on Moscow as soon as next week

Permanent representatives of the 27 member states of the European Union agreed on a six-month extension of economic sanctions against Russia, which expire on January 31, 2021, a source in the delegation of one of the European countries in the EU Council told TASS.

"Yes, the ambassadors have just agreed to extend the restrictive measures until July 31, 2021," the source said.

Turkey will not abandon its rights and interests in the eastern Mediterranean because of possible European Union sanctions or criticism, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday.

US sanctions on Turkey over its purchase of Russian S-400 missile defense systems would backfire and hurt ties between the two NATO members, a senior Turkish official said on Thursday.

"Sanctions would not achieve a result but be counter-productive. They would harm relations," the official said after four sources said Washington was poised to impose sanctions.

EU foreign policy head Josep Borrell on Tuesday called for the strengthening of Operation Irini, the bloc's naval mission in the Mediterranean Sea aimed at enforcing the UN arms embargo on Libya.
"Operation Irini has hailed ships, since it was launched, on more than 130 occasions," Borrell said after a videoconference of EU defense ministers.