confidentially speaking
The Africa Confidential Blog
Brussels takes on Russia's mercenaries
Blue Lines
On 15 December, European Union foreign ministers slapped sanctions on the Russian private military group Wagner opening the way for more sanctions against foreign mercenary groups operating in Africa. It fits into the pattern of stand-offs between Brussels and Moscow given that Wagner is owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a close ally of Russia's President Vladimir Putin.
EU officials accused Wagner of worsening the civil war in Libya, with its backing for General Khalifa Haftar. Equally troubling to Brussels is the way Wagner offered its services to the regimes in Mali and the Central African Republic. The EU has now withdrawn its military support for the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in CAR, where Wagner group soldiers have been training local forces but are also accused of serial human rights abuses.
That may affect EU operations in Mozambique, Congo-Kinshasa and the Sahel, where Wagner soldiers have also been on the ground.
In a sanctions list drawn up by EU officials under its version of the United States Magnitsky Act, and unanimously approved by foreign ministers, Wagner was targeted with an asset freeze. The eight individuals sanctioned include Dmitry Utkin, now said to be Wagner's lead commander in Ukraine, and Alexander Kuzentsov, a commander who has been leading operations in Libya.
