Portugal is on the Russian government’s list of hostile and unfriendly countries, along with all European Union member states, CNN Portugal and Interfax report. The list was signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on Monday and created at the request of President Vladimir Putin in response to the sanctions imposed against Russia.
Along with European Union (EU) countries, the list also includes Australia, Albania, Andorra, the United Kingdom, Iceland, Canada, Liechtenstein, Micronesia, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, San Marino, North Macedonia, Singapore, the United States, Taiwan, Ukraine, Montenegro, Switzerland, and Japan.
The foreign countries on the Russian list have taken unfriendly actions against Russia, Russian companies, and Russian citizens. All EU countries are mentioned on the list due to the EU’s measures to make sure Russia cannot finance the war against Ukraine, measures to which Portugal voted in favor.
This includes an end to the sale of EU citizenship to Russians as Portugal is no longer allowing Russian citizens to apply for the Golden Visa. The Portuguese government has also announced that they will sanction any Russian citizen, even if they have Portuguese nationality that is part of an international sanction list by freezing their assets in Portugal. Other sanctions include a full asset freeze on three Russian banks and excluding key Russian banks from SWIFT.
Portugal is also welcoming all Ukrainians who want to seek asylum in Portugal, while other EU member states have imposed limits on the number of refugees allowed. The bureaucracy of applying for refugee status in Portugal has been eliminated for those fleeing Ukraine as the whole process has been fast-tracked. Ukrainian refugees will be given a national health service number, a social security number, and a VAT identification number (NIF) automatically.
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