Final Word from Monday, February 27, 2023
The EU has noticed the surge in exports to Russia's neighbors and plans to crack down. The EU sanctions coordinator, David O'Sullivan, said at a forum with his counterparts from like-minded countries on Thur. that the measure of the success of the sanctions will be whether they can be fully and unconditionally implemented. "Those willing to make a profit regardless of legal or moral circumstances are ingenious in their tactics and methods," he said. "We must tackle this from all angles." The EU passed a 10th sanctions package on Sat., and it extends the list of sanctioned items to include "goods that can be easily redirected to be used to support the Russian war effort." That can be such things as electric generators, pumps, binoculars, compasses and forklifts. Many Czech companies will be studying the list to see whether their third-country exports are now at risk. Legally and morally, the argument that gray-market imports into Russia aren't under their control might not work much longer. [ Czech Republic European Union coalition Ukraine ]
Glossary of difficult words
cat and mouse - a series of clever maneuvers designed to thwart an opponent;
surge - a sudden large increase, typically a temporary one;
to crack down - to take severe measures against;
ingenious - (of a person) clever, original and inventive;
to tackle - to make determined efforts to deal with (a problem or difficult task);
forklift - a vehicle with a pronged device in front for lifting and carrying heavy loads.