– At that time, the Magnitsky law had not yet become global and 10 people close to Victor Orban were banned from traveling.
– Before the Bulgarians, only two more people from EU countries were punished with the full severity of the measure
Before the sanctions under the global law “Magnitsky”, in force since 2016, affected the Bulgarians Vasil Bozhkov, Delyan Peevski and Ilko Zhelyazkov, they were rarely and incidentally applied to EU member states. On a slightly larger scale, the sanctions affected allies of the United States when they were imposed under Section 7031 (c) of the State Department. In principle, both under the law and under the section, punitive measures are taken against
persons involved
on a large scale
corruption or
in heavy
encroachments
against the rights
of man
However, the consequences are different.
While under Section 7031 (c) the United States prohibits the access of affected persons and the closest members of their family – spouses and children – to American territory, under the Magnitsky Act, assets and bank accounts are blocked, ie. the economic consequences are much more serious.
In fact, the first blow against corruption in a Central and Eastern European country was struck against 10 Hungarians close to Prime Minister Viktor Orban. This happened in October 2014. when the Magnitsky law still does not apply to foreigners other than Russians, in some way connected with the death of Sergei Magnitsky himself in Russian pre-trial detention.
Human rights organizations then noted that the visa restrictions imposed were a rare action against another NATO country. Western media talk about “Russian-type sanctions.” The names of those affected are not mentioned, but comments are that the measure betrays
the wrath of the United States
compared to Hungarian
inclination to
authoritarianism,
corrupt practices, as well as a favorable attitude towards Russia during the crisis with Ukraine.
Since then, although Budapest has been repeatedly pointed at for violating the rule of law and the rule of law in the EU, it has no longer come under the scrutiny of new US sanctions.
For the first time in the EU, the global Magnitsky law has been applied against Slovak businessman Marian Kochner. In October 2019, he was accused of “participating in a serious violation of human rights” over the alleged bail of the murder of journalist Jan Kuciak, which shook the country. According to the American report, the businessman threatened Kuciak and hired former secret service agents to monitor him just before his murder. At the time, 27-year-old Kuciak was investigating Kochner’s involvement in corruption schemes and money laundering. The reporter was shot dead along with his fiancée at their home in a village near the capital Bratislava in 2018.
In 2020
It was Kochner
justified on
first instance
in the bail case. He received only a 5,000-euro fine for illegal possession of a weapon. Kuciak’s assassination sparked mass protests in Slovakia and led to the fall of the government of Social Democrat Robert Fico. In early 2021, the Slovak businessman was sentenced to 19 years in prison in another fraud case.
The second case of an EU citizen sanctioned under the Magnitsky law is from Latvia and is for large-scale corruption. In December 2019, the United States
sanction
Latvian
oligarch Aivars
Lembergs
due to evidence that he was responsible for misuse and misappropriation of various state and private assets, corruption related to government procurement, bribery. Lembergs has been mayor of Ventspils for many years and as such has been accused of money laundering and abuse of power.
He used his influence to provide certain people with high management positions and to prevent others from rising. He bribed people from the judiciary and the police.
A Romanian politician has also been subject to US sanctions, albeit under Section 7031 (c). In September 2019
American
visa was denied
of the leader of
the Romanians
social democrats
Liviu Dragnea and his two children.
For a long time, Dragnya was considered one of the most powerful people in his homeland, and although he failed to become prime minister, he pulled the strings as head of the lower house of parliament. He also became famous for his fierce conflict with the former head of the anti-corruption agency and current European Attorney General Laura Coveschi. Dragnea’s travel ban to the United States was imposed after his sentence of three and a half years in prison for corruption in Romania was upheld.
With the exception of Russia, for which the Magnitsky Act was actually created, representatives of other European countries outside the EU have also been punished. Among them is Moldovan oligarch and former Democratic Party leader Vladimir Plahotniuc, who in mid-January 2020 was banned by the United States from accessing his territory under Section 7031 (c) “for corrupt practices that undermined the rule of law and severely damaged the independence of the United States.” democratic institutions in Moldova ”.
The most famous Moldovan rich man suspected of the theft of the century – the disappearance of 1 billion dollars from several banks in the country – fled his homeland in June 2019, using various false identities. Information about the oligarch’s presence in the United States has appeared at least once after the imposition of sanctions against him, Radio Free Europe claims.
The state department also punished the mayor of the Albanian city, Durres Vangush Dako, and his family. The reason was again participation in major corruption schemes. The same happened in 2018 with former Albanian Chief Prosecutor Adriatic Lala.
In December 2019, Washington blocked travel to the United States and 9 Serbs associated with major arms dealer Slobodan Tesic. For 10 years, Tesic has been on the UN criminal list for violating sanctions on arms exports to Liberia.
In this context, the fall of three Bulgarians and 64 companies under the Magnitsky Act and three more under Section 7031 (c) of the State Department is something unprecedented for an EU country. On the question
why now and why
exactly Bulgaria,
In front of Free Europe, Donatien Rui of the Center for International and Strategic Studies in Washington, D.C., highlighted the Joe Biden administration’s overwhelming determination to make table corruption a foreign policy issue and turn it into a policy driver. A presidential memorandum was published last week, giving 200 days to all security services to prepare plans to fight corruption in various parts of the world.
“On the one hand, Bulgaria is currently in a sensitive and highly unstable political situation on the eve of early elections. On the other hand, the problem has been around for many years and is extremely deep, ”Rui said. Besides, in her words
The United States is trying to
make their own
EU partners
to be triggered
The European equivalent of the Magnitsky law, which came into force late last year, does not sanction cases of corruption, but only human rights violations.
Perhaps this partly explains the lack of reaction to one of the big scandals at the moment – the one with the accusations of fraud with EU funds against the Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš himself. In early June, the six-year investigation against him ended and police handed over more than 34,000 pages of evidence to the prosecutor’s office.
The investigation aimed to establish whether one of the billionaire’s companies illegally received EU subsidies of about 2 million euros more than 10 years ago. In 2019, the prosecutor’s office decided not to sue the Czech prime minister and the case was returned for further investigation.
Meanwhile, the country’s chief prosecutor, Pavel Zeman, who reopened the investigation into Babis two years ago, has resigned, saying he can no longer tolerate pressure from Justice Minister Marie Benesova. Protests against her and against Babish were repeatedly organized, described as the largest since the fall of communism. For now, however, the case remains entirely domestic.
Another possible explanation for looking at Bulgaria at this time is that after years of neglect under Trump today
USA again
look at
The Balkans like
of strategic
region
This is also reflected in the order signed by Biden on Wednesday, which provides for the blocking of any property in the United States owned or controlled by any person responsible or complicit in activities or policies that threaten the peace, security, stability or territorial integrity of which and be an area or country in the Western Balkans. It applies to individuals whom the US authorities define as undermining democratic processes or institutions, as well as to those involved in any way in corrupt activities in the region.
In this context, it is even more understandable why the United States also sanctioned two representatives of the State Agency for Bulgarians Abroad – its former chief Petar Haralampiev and former chief secretary Krassimir Tomov, suspected of trading in Bulgarian passports. One week ago, the State Department warned Bulgaria that if it wants US visas to be revoked for Bulgarian citizens, it must stop illegal schemes in providing Bulgarian passports to foreigners, Euroactive writes.
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