A draft European Union list of countries that pose a threat to the bloc appears to have gotten longer. Brussels added Saudi Arabia because of lax controls against terrorism financing and money laundering.
The list was reportedly updated last week using new criteria developed by the Commission. Saudi Arabia is one of the countries added to the updated list which is still confidential, one EU source and one Saudi source told Reuters.
The move comes amid heightened international pressure on Saudi Arabia after the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate on October 2.
As reported by the Reuters news agency, the EU’s list currently consists of 16 countries, including Iran, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen and North Korea, and is mostly based on criteria used by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global body composed by wealthy nations meant to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.
