Navigating Policy and Practice: EU Cultural Sanctions in Response to Russia’s War against Ukraine
Journal: Santander Art and Culture Law Review
Year: 2025

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 triggered a major shift in the EU’s external policy. The scope and brutality of the aggression, as well as the systemic looting and destruction of Ukraine’s cultural heritage, prompted a paradigm shift in the EU’s approach to international cultural relations. For the first time, cultural issues were addressed through EU sanctions adopted under the Common Foreign and Security Policy. Between 2022 and 2025, several sanctions packages introdu