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As Russia continues its criminal war against Ukraine, Europe should urgently deploy all the tools at its disposal to dismantle the Russia-linked state capture networks that have facilitated the Kremlin’s corrosive influence on international economic and political affairs.

Europe’s lackluster sanctions enforcement mechanisms, the patchwork of weak anti–money laundering and criminal prosecution frameworks, and diverse networks of enablers who seek gains from transactional diplomacy have each emboldened the Kremlin to strengthen its maximalist war aims. Russia has also expanded its economic and political influence beyond Europe to create an authoritarian, anti-Western coalition in the Global South.

To empower frontline countries and mitigate authoritarian influence, the European Union needs to create institutional architecture focused on strategic decoupling from Russian energy dependence, cut Western technology and weapons supplies to Russia, and counteract the illicit financing channels that perpetuate the Kremlin’s war. 

To discuss how to strengthen economic security and sanctions enforcement in Europe, Martin Vladimirov, director of the Energy and Climate Program at the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD) in Sofia, and Isaac Levi, Europe-Russia policy and energy analysis team lead at the Finland-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) will meet for an in-person panel. Matt Boyse will moderate the panel, and Laura Kovesi, the EU chief prosecutor, will join remotely.

Boyse and CSD Program Director Ruslan Stefanov will deliver opening remarks.