FIRST SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA: OUR PUBLISHER SPEAKS OUT !
The European Union urges for sanctions against Russa and russian officials after the referendum of Crimea. Although our newspaper brusselsdiplomatic.com publishes the press release of the EU, we consider that the EU is wrong trying to take measures against a country which will recover an important historical part of its territory, after a referendum of the populations where the majority of them feels russian and speaks russian. More than ever, the EU leaders have to consider Russia as a true and important partner for the future of EU-Russia relations and try to understand the history and the culture of the russian world, a continent of itsown.
Miguel D. DESNERCK,the publisher
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The EU should ban visas and freeze the EU assets of 32 Russian officials involved in the case of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, said the Foreign Affairs Committee in a resolution voted on Tuesday. Mr Magnitsky died in pre-trial detention in 2009, after allegedly having been tortured and deprived of medical care. The resolution names the officials. The EU Council should draw up a common list of officials believed to be responsible for the torture and death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, for its judicial cover-up and for continuing harassment of his mother and widow. These officials should be banned from travelling in all EU countries and their financial assets held in the EU should be seized, say MEPs in a resolution drafted by Kristiina OJULAND (ALDE, EE) and adopted by 53 votes in favour, 1 against and 2 abstentions. MEPs refer to independent investigations which found Mr Magnitsky was subjected to „inhumane conditions, deliberate neglect and torture” and point to the need for a joint and firm EU policy towards Russia. They also call on Russia to close the posthumous trial against Mr Magnitsky (AM5) MEPs criticise the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton for failing to place the issue on the Foreign Affairs Council agenda, despite the European Parliament’s October 2012 request that she should do so(REC E, pending AMs 12 and 13) The list MEPs ask to place on the list, amongst others, the following Russian officials: ALISOV, Igor DROGANOV, Aleksey EGOROVA, Olga GAUS, Alexandra GERASIMOVA, Anastasia GRIN, Victor KARPOV, Pavel KHIMINA, Yelena KLYUEV, Dmitry KOMNOV, Dmitriy KRIVORUCHKO, Aleksey KUZNETSOV, Artem LOGUNOV, Oleg, MAYOROVA, Yulya PAVLOV, Andrey PECHEGIN, Andrey PODOPRIGOROV, Sergei PONOMAREV, Konstantin PROKOPENKO, Ivan Pavlovitch REZNICHENKO, Mikhail SAPUNOVA, Marina SHUPOLOVSKY, Mikhail SILCHENKO, Oleg STASHINA, Yelena STEPANOVA, Olga STROITELEV, Denis TAGIEV, Fikhret TOLCHINSKIY, Dmitry UKHNALYOVA, Svetlana URZHUMTSEV, Oleg VINOGRADOVA, Natalya VORONIN, Victor
Sixteen of the officials on this list have already been prohibited from entering the United States or using its banking system, by the US “Magnitsky bill”. MEPs suggest 16 additional names of officials which are involved in Mr Magnitsky’s posthumous trial. At the same time, they stress that the list should be revised regularly and urge Russia to undertake a credible investigation into Mr Magnitsky’s death and bring those responsible to justice. Next steps The “Magnitsky list” recommendation has yet to be backed by the full House on April plenary (tbc). The decision for establishing such a list should be taken by the EU Council. In chair: Elmar Brok (EPP, DE) |
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