Suspected export of dual-use technology to Russia, 6 arrests in Europe

Brussels – Illegal trade in technology for dual use, civil and military, and the risk that this trade may violate EU sanctions against Russia. The Belgian public prosecutor’s office has launched searches in Flanders, in private homes and company headquarters in the municipalities of Knokke-Heist and Eeklo. While in parallel, Belgian investigators say, searches for the same reason were conducted in the Netherlands, in Rotterdam and Sluis.

Six people were arrested for questioning, four in Belgium and two in the Netherlands. Within the next 48 hours the investigators will decide whether all or even one of the arrested persons will have to appear before the judge and possibly confirm the arrest.

In the background is the possibility of the existence of an illegal trading network, which is being investigated. The Belgian Federal Prosecutor’s office is not offering any further details on the investigation, which was triggered by reports from ‘US government agencies’. The same agencies allegedly warned of the existence of products of US origin, probably linked to money laundering activities.

Dual technologies are all those devices for civil use that can also be used for military purposes. Drones, bugs, microchips, turbine engines, computer programmes, and even rockets. No information, as yet, has been released on the nature of the material subject to the raids. But the Belgian public prosecutor’s office does not exclude that ‘some of the technologies exchanged could fall under the embargo rules applicable to certain countries, such as Russia, in particular due to armed conflicts’.

For Russia, the EU introduced the ‘extended ban’ on the export of dual-use or ‘dual’ goods and technologies with the 11th sanctions package against Moscow as a response to the military aggression in Ukraine. This package, dated June 2023, was followed by the alignment of restrictions on trade in dual technologies against Belarus, which is considered an ally of Russia and therefore sanctioned.