(MENAFN) The European Commission on Wednesday designated Russia as a “high-risk” country, citing "strategic deficiencies in its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing frameworks."

The decision followed a technical evaluation based on "well-defined methodologies," incorporating data from public sources, EU member state authorities, and the European External Action Service, the commission said in a statement.

"This assessment concluded that Russia meets the criteria to be designated as a high-risk third country," the statement added.

The commission emphasized that the move is aimed "to preserve the integrity of the EU financial system" by including Russia on its high-risk list.

“This is a key step to ensure EU financial and non-financial operators apply stricter checks when dealing with Russian entities,” EU Economy Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said in a post on the US social media company X’s platform.

EU entities governed by the anti-money laundering framework "are required to apply enhanced vigilance in transactions involving these jurisdictions."

The delegated regulation will take effect after review by the European Parliament and European Council within one month, with a possible one-month extension.

Russia has not issued an immediate response to the designation.

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