Put Wagner Group on EU terrorist list, Belgian Greens say

Belgium should take the initiative to put the Russian paramilitary organization Wagner Group on the European list of terrorist organisations, Green parties Groen and Ecolo argue. The Flemish and French-speaking parties proposed a resolution in the Belgian Chamber of Representatives.

The Wagner group is active in Ukraine, Syria and Mali, among other countries. "We are talking about a ruthless, extremely cruel organisation that consistently disregards human rights and the laws of war," said Groen party leader Wouter De Vriendt on Tuesday. "Wagner meets the criteria of a terrorist organisation and should be cut down wherever possible."

Wagner has been designated an international criminal organisation in the United States. Earlier this year, the European Union decided to impose individual sanctions on 11 individuals and companies linked to the paramilitary organization, including for serious human rights abuses in Sudan and the Central African Republic. 

Following the example of the European Parliament, the Belgian Greens want to hit the Russian mercenary army as a whole by adding it to the list of terrorist organisations. Anyone who provides financial or material support to an organisation on this list is committing a crime. It is the 27 EU member states that take such a decision on the initiative of a member state. 

^{Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner on a rooftop at an undisclosed location © @concordgroup_official / AFP}