The European Union on Friday unanimously rejected a proposal to add Saudi Arabia and four American territories to a blacklist for lax controls on money laundering.
Representatives of EU states meeting in Brussels on Friday agreed on a statement on the matter, which was seen by Reuters and which is expected to be formally adopted by justice and home affairs ministers meeting on Thursday.
“We cannot support the current proposal that was not established in a transparent and credible process that incentivizes affected countries to take decisive action while also respecting their right to be heard,” the statement said.
The US Treasury Department has also spoken out against the proposal, saying the listing process was “flawed” and rejecting the inclusion of US territories American Samoa, US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Guam.
Observers considered Friday’s move a slap in the face of the European Commission, which sought to downplay its failure in adding Saudi Arabia to the EU money-laundering blacklist.
Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva defended the list, insisting that the methodology had been created in consultation with EU member states.
In Saudi Arabia, political analyst Ali Al Tawati told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Commission’s proposal to add the Kingdom to the blacklist is part of a multifaceted economic, political and financial campaign against Riyadh, led by parties supporting Iran in the EU or by those receiving huge sums of money from Qatar.
“Qatar considers itself in an open war with Saudi Arabia and the states that have boycotted it, and therefore, it would use all possible means” to confront them, he said.
Tawiti defended the banking system in the Kingdom. “No money can be transferred to a Saudi bank without knowing its source or inquiring where it would be spent and why.”
