EU considers ports closure to Russian ships
The EU is reportedly considering whether to follow the UK’s example and ban Russian ships from docking at its ports.
According to the Danish foreign ministry, closing its ports had been considered during Sunday’s meeting when EU foreign ministers agreed to close the bloc’s airspace following the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Denmark is actively working for the EU to make a common decision to close its ports to Russian vessels,” Copenhagen told Reuters today. “We have already decided to close the Danish airspace to Russian aircraft. At the same time, we are open to looking at new initiatives in collaboration with our European partners.”
A French official told the news agency that while the measure had been discussed, any additional step needs to affect “proportionately much more than our own economies.”
The EU’s decision, which is expected to be voted on today by the EU Parliament, follows in the footsteps of allies such as the UK and Canada, who have closed their ports to Moscow.
After he wrote to UK ports urging them to deny port access, UK transport secretary Grant Shapps said today Britain was the first country to have passed a legislation to ban all ships with any Russian connections from entering, CityAM reported.
The UK was quickly followed by Canada, who announced today it was closing its waters too.
“Russia must be held accountable for its invasion of Ukraine,” tweeted transport minister Omar Alghabra. “Today, we are taking steps to close Canadian waters and ports to Russian-owned or registered ships. We will continue to take action to stand with Ukraine.”