Pavel Havlíček: Sanctions against Russia should be strengthened

11.11.2024 0 By Writer.NS

Pavel Havlíček

The Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, resulted in an unprecedented response from part of the international community, which focused both on helping Ukrainians and on sanctions against the Putin regime. The Czech government did not stand aside at this critical moment but took several active steps on behalf of the victims of aggression.

How did the position of the Czech Republic towards Russia change with the start of the Ukrainian-Russian war?

The ammunition initiative, which received wide support, illustrated the Czech Republic’s position as one of the most active supporters of Ukraine. It is also worth noting the significant assistance provided to refugees from Ukraine.

The reaction of the Czech government was the introduction of changes to domestic legislation (in particular, the introduction of amendments to Act No. 69/2006 Coll. On the implementation of international sanctions, the development of the Czech version of the so-called Magnitsky Act, the draft law on restrictive measures regarding certain serious actions applied in international relations (sanctions law),

And when did the Czech Republic develop its position regarding Russia and Ukraine?

Both the EU and the Czech Republic have introduced restrictive measures against Russia in connection with its military aggression in Ukraine until February 2022. Since March 2014, the EU has introduced sanctions in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol and the deliberate destabilization of the state of Ukraine. After the 2022 invasion, there was a massive expansion of anti-Russian restrictions. Thanks to 14 packages of sanctions (the first of which was introduced as early as February 23, 2022, and the last on June 24, 2024), the EU has significantly taken a wide range of measures aimed at weakening the Russian economy, depriving it of critical technologies and markets, which significantly limits the ability of the Russian Federation to continue this war.

The first to be sanctioned by the Czech government on April 26, 2023, was Patriarch Kirill of Moscow. On June 29, 2023, Russian businessman Volodymyr Yevtushenko and his son Felix were added. Yevtushenko, then on August 16, 2023, the spouses of Rostislav and Olga Zorikova, and on November 15, 2023, FDM, UP “Enterprise for Property Management Abroad” of the Office of the President of the Russian Federation (state-owned). At first, businessman Borys Obnosov was included in the national list of sanctions, but after being included in the EU sanctions list as part of the 12th package on December 18, 2023, it was excluded.

So far, the last update of the sanctions organizations was published on March 27, 2024, and Viktor Medvedchuk, as well as politician, media producer, and propagandist Artyom Marchevsky and the company “Voice of Europe,” were on the list. The EU added these three organizations to the list on May 27, 2024.

We must be able to target sanctions before entities associated with the Putin regime divest their assets, as some have.

—-What additional sanctions are foreseen at the level of the Czech Republic?

The adoption of the Latvian amendment, which was a reaction to the money laundering scandals, meant, among other things, that suspicious banking operations were partially moved from Latvia to the Czech Republic. Therefore, the Czech Republic should respond with a similar legislative decision, which would fundamentally weaken the possibility of legalizing criminal income.

At the meeting on August 23, 2023, the government instructed the Minister of Justice to prepare and submit for the government’s consideration the specified draft law that will neutralize the criminal way of withdrawing illegally obtained property.

We recommend that the preparation of the legislative proposal (which is also the implementation of EU confiscation directive 14) be accelerated as much as possible and not wait until the end of this year. The problems of money laundering through current accounts are very acute in the context of limiting Russian influence in connection with aggression in Ukraine.

Sanctions against Russia need continuous improvement to outpace Russia’s adaptation. Lukasz Kraus (Lobbio), Pavel Havlicek (AMO—Association for International Affairs), Emma Isabella Sage and Borys Kaliski (Prague Institute for Security Studies) jointly prepared recommendations for the current Czech government on how to make the sanctions’ regime in the Czech Republic more effective, building on existing instruments and legislative proposals.