On March 17, 2022, the European Commission announced that the “Freeze and Seize” Task Force, which was formed to ensure the coordination among EU member states in the imposition of EU sanctions against Russian and Belarusian oligarchs, will cooperate with the newly-established Russian Elites, Proxies, and Oligarchs (REPO) Task Force along with a host of G7 countries including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US. According to a Joint Statement on the REPO Task Force, the task force’s goal is to enable participating countries to work together to ensure that all available legal steps are taken to locate, restrain, freeze, seize and where appropriate, confiscate or forfeit assets belonging to individuals and entities that have been sanctioned in connection with Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The EU reports that the cooperation between the Freeze and Seize Task Force and the REPO Task Force will ensure the effective implementation of Russian and Belarussian sanctions on a global scale, and according to Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders, the joint action “shows solidarity and unity in the face of war.”
European Commission Press Release | Task Force Ministerial Joint Statement