Various European countries not in the EU aligned with four recent sanctions decisions taken by the European Council, the EU announced March 8.

The U.K. Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation added one entry each to its Central African Republic and South Sudan sanctions regimes and amended one entry under its Democratic Republic of the Congo sanctions list, in a series of three notices.

The U.K. Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation added two entries to its Iran (Human Rights) sanctions regime and one name to its Syria restrictions. Seyyed Mohammed Saleh Hashemi Golpayegani and the Headquarters for Enjoining Right and Forbidding Evil were both added to the Iran sanctions regime. Golpayegani is the head of the listed entity. The entry for Morteza Barati was amended. OFSI also designated Amjad Youssef, a military officer, under its Syria sanctions list.

French authorities seized a villa worth over $24 million and allegedly owned by a sanctioned Russian oligarch, French newspaper Le Monde reported March 1. The mansion, seized in October, is suspected of belonging to Russian steel magnate Viktor Rashnikov, the report said. While French authorities had already frozen three properties linked to the oligarch since he was sanctioned in March 2022, this property went unnoticed because it was "not declared to the tax authorities as being his property," the report said.

The EU added nine people and three entities to its global human rights sanctions regime for their roles in carrying out sexual and gender-based violence, the European Council announced March 7. The new listings include acting Taliban officials, Moscow police officers, members of the Russian armed forces, South Sudanese militia commanders, a Myanmar official and military office, an Iranian prison and the Syrian Republican Guard.

The U.K. and India held the seventh round of negotiations on a free trade agreement, the U.K. Department for International Trade announced March 6. The talks wrapped up Feb. 10 and covered 11 policy areas over 43 separate sessions held both in person and virtually. The next round will be held "later this Spring."

Danish multinational mineral wool product manufacturer Rockwool International confirmed a Global Investigations Review report that the Danish Business Authority is investigating the company for its Russia-related business activities. Rockwool said the agency had requested "general information, for example, regarding ownership structures as well as regarding potential sanctioned sales and sales involving the Russian military."

The EU General Court in a March 1 opinion granted "interim measures" allowing Russian national Nikita Mazepin, sanctioned in September, to enter the EU to "negotiate his recruitment" as a Formula 1 driver racing under a neutral flag. The opinion marks the first time the court suspended sanctions on a person pending the main hearing of the case, according to the European Sanctions blog.

The European Commission last month approved certain genetically engineered soybean and oilseed rape crops for food and animal feed, USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service said in a report last week. The approvals, which will be valid for 10 years, apply to food and feed “for import and processing, but do not cover cultivation,” the agency said. The imports will be subject to the EU's strict labeling and traceability rules. USDA said these crops are the “first group of GE approvals for export to the EU that the Commission has approved in 2023.”

The European Commission recently updated its frequently asked questions page on specialized financial messaging services and how they intersect with sanctions. The commission updated the answer to the first FAQ -- "What are the banks subject to the prohibition to provide specialized financial messaging services?" -- and amended the answer to the second FAQ, which deals with Russian banks using "other means of communication" to "compensate" for restrictions placed on their ability to use financial messaging services, such as SWIFT.