Germany’s economy minister Robert Habeck, left, during a meeting with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Finance Minister Christian Lindner on Wednesday.
Germany’s economy minister Robert Habeck, left, during a meeting with Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Finance Minister Christian Lindner on Wednesday.Credit...John Macdougall/Agence France-Presse — Getty
Germany plans to offer visas and job opportunities to Russians seeking to get away from Vladimir V. Putin’s government, the German economy minister said on Wednesday, describing measures similar to those Berlin has laid out for Ukrainian refugees.
The minister, Robert Habeck, said Germany wanted to “consciously address” how to ease the way for Russians leaving their country as Moscow cracks down on the opposition and tries to censor criticism of its invasion of Ukraine.
Since the war began, European officials have discussed encouraging Russians to move as a means of putting pressure on Moscow.
“We can make good use of them in Germany,” Mr. Habeck said during a news conference after a cabinet retreat at Meseberg Castle just outside Berlin.
In a move similar to what Germany has done for Ukrainians fleeing the war, Mr. Habeck said he planned to coordinate with other ministries to lower the hurdles to grant unemployment benefits for those arriving from Russia and for recognizing some Russian professional qualifications, as well as to speed up entry visas.
The Economy Ministry, he said, would coordinate with business associations to find suitable job offers.
The plan is not without security concerns, said Mr. Habeck, a member of the Greens, one of three parties in the governing coalition alongside the center-left Social Democrats and the market-orientated Free Democrats. He noted the need for oversight by Germany’s Interior Ministry to ensure that “the wrong people don’t come to us, and all of a sudden we have a lot of spies in our country.”
Rights activists have criticized the manner in which the government has eased requirements for Ukrainians, and now potentially Russians, even as other asylum seekers must go through long bureaucratic procedures to be able to work or study.
E.U. sanctions on Russian oil will also target European shipowners and service providers.
A tanker moored in a gas and oil dock in Constanta, Romania, on the Black Sea in March.
A tanker moored in a gas and oil dock in Constanta, Romania, on the Black Sea in March.Credit...Nathan Laine/Bloomberg
The European Union plan to impose an embargo on Russian oil imports will also target E.U.-owned vessels and services that are integral to the trade of the fuel worldwide, according to officials involved in the proposal and documents seen by The New York Times.
Part of the embargo will aim to wean the European Union off Russian crude oil over the next six months, and ban the import of refined Russian oil products by the end of the year.
European Union off Russian crude oil over the next six months, and ban the import of refined Russian oil products by the end of the year.
But another part will focus on the E.U. shipping companies that transport Russian oil to destinations outside the bloc, as well as key services that make the trade possible, such as brokering and insurance firms, which are overwhelmingly based in the European Union and Britain.
Much of Russia’s oil is transported by European-owned tankers, in particular Greek-owned ones. Industry research shows that in the weeks after the invasion of Ukraine, Greek tankers increased their transport of the fuel out of Russia through the Black Sea, ferrying half or more of Russia’s oil exports to international destinations.
The E.U. measures proposed on Wednesday would stop that, dealing a further blow to Moscow’s oil exports that could reverberate beyond Russia’s borders.
The sanctions proposal, which is being discussed by E.U. ambassadors Wednesday and is expected to be adopted by the end of the week, says that “it shall be prohibited to purchase, import or transfer, directly or indirectly, crude oil and petroleum products, if they originate in Russia or are exported from Russia.”
It would also ban “technical assistance, brokering services, financing or financial assistance, or any other services related to the prohibition,” according to a draft of the text.