State of the Union: Kinga Redlowska Responds to Finance and Security Signals

Europe must turn financial intelligence into action against sanctions evasion and organised crime.

Commission President von der Leyen’s speech contained two important finance and security signals - and one glaring omission.

On Russia, she argued that further pressure does not necessarily require new sanctions, but better enforcement of existing measures and closure of circumvention loopholes, a longstanding weakness in the EU.

She also connected border security with financial disruption, citing the proposed new EU sanctions regime targeting migrant smuggling, human trafficking and other forms of serious organised crime. This framework would allow asset freezes and travel bans against individuals and entities involved in cross-border criminal activity, including arms and drug trafficking and money laundering.

This is a welcome recognition that border security is not solely about physical controls. The networks exploiting vulnerable people depend on payments, laundering, corruption, logistics and professional facilitation. Targeting their finances can raise costs, expose wider networks and support operational disruption.

But designation must not become a substitute for criminal investigation, prosecution, confiscation and asset recovery. The effectiveness of both the Russia sanctions and the new organised crime regime will depend on clear designation thresholds, adequate enforcement resources, intelligence sharing and coordination among sanctions authorities, financial intelligence units, Europol, customs and national investigators.

The speech points towards a more integrated understanding of European security, although the lack of any reference to Iran was striking. Countering the financial networks supporting Iran–Russia military cooperation offers a concrete opportunity for EU–US coordination, with the potential to constrain both countries’ access to funds and critical components.

In short, the test for Europe is whether it can turn financial intelligence into sustained operational impact.

Dr Kinga Redlowska, Head of CFS Europe, Centre for Finance and Security at RUSI