TIRANA, July 21 – Albania has joined an extension of EU sanctions against Russia over its annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol from Ukraine.
“The candidate countries of Montenegro and Albania, and the EFTA countries Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine, and Georgia align themselves with this Council Decision,” the Council of the EU said in a statement.
“They will ensure that their national policies conform to this Council decision. The European Union takes note of this commitment and welcomes it,” the statement said.
Last June, the Council decided to extend the existing sanctions until June 23, 2017.
Restrictions for Crimea and Sevastopol include a ban on imports originating in Crimea or Sevastopol unless they have Ukrainian certificates, a prohibition to invest in Crimea, a ban on providing tourism services as well as provision of goods and technology for the transport, telecommunications and energy sectors or the exploration of oil, gas and mineral resources.
Russia has also included Albania on its food embargo list in retaliation to its support for Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis and the annexation of Crimea. The move has had a minor impact on Albania’s exports due to the low level of trade exchanges with Russia, dominated by wheat imports.
