Posts Tagged ‘EU’
Visas, human rights on EU-Russia agenda this WEEK
The signature of a small-time visa deal is likely to form the centrepiece of Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s visit to Brussels.
The so-called upgraded visa facilitation agreement (VFA) is designed to reduce paperwork and delays for some classes of Russian citizens, such as officials, academics and businessmen.
The EU foreign service told this website the pact has been “held back” by Russia’s last minute request to allow visa-free travel for its officials “which we have not been able to agree.” But it added: “We should sign the upgraded VFA as it stands now.”
What Russia really wants is visa-free travel for everybody.
The EU recently sent two delegations to Russia to see what it is doing to meet technical standards on issues such as border control. But the foreign service noted that “information gathering will need to be followed by reforms” and that the EU is not yet ready to start negotiations on a visa-free pact.
In one way, the real centrepiece will be Putin’s presence in the EU capital.
He will attend a dinner with top EU officials Herman Van Rompuy and Jose Manuel Barroso on Thursday (20 December) and a working meeting on Friday.
The last time he came, in February 2011, he created a celebrity buzz in the European Commission, with lots of EU officials who do not work on Russia crowding into the commission’s press room to see him up close.
Putin and Barroso at the time clashed on EU laws designed to limit the power of Russian energy champion Gazprom.
In the meantime, Barroso has opened a competition probe into alleged Gazprom price-fixing which could see it fined billions of euros and forced to renegotiate contracts.
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Avenging a whistleblower
The passage of the ‘Magnitsky list’ puts the US back on the moral high ground. What does ‘eastern Europe’ think about the new American administration? That was the question that CEPA, a Washington, DC think-tank where I am a non-resident fellow, set me last month.
My answer was “not much”. For a start, I argued that the idea of a homogenous ‘east European’ region of ardent Atlanticists is out of date. Only Poland and Estonia pay their real dues to NATO (spending 2% of gross domestic product on defence). They and a few other countries still have specific expectations of US military involvement in Europe, exemplified by NATO’s contingency planning and next year’s Steadfast Jazz exercise. This will defend a fictitious chunk of NATO from a fictitious adversary. It just happens to take place mostly in Poland and the Baltic states. But most countries when they think about the US do so as Europeans, not as ‘ex-communist countries’. Just like most Europeans, they want the US to be strong and friendly.
But expectations are modest. After 1989, the US was the single most important country for newly free Europe. Not any more. For those in search of an economic and political model, the Nordic countries offer the best example of dynamic capitalism and high-quality public services. The US is a friend, but for the most part a far-away and distracted one.
I pooh-poohed the US’s role a bit prematurely. It is true that the administration is not greatly focused on Europe. But the US is more than the administration. Congress has put the US back on the moral high ground, by passing a law containing the ‘Magnitsky list’.
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Russian Riled By Parliament
Members of the European Parliament may struggle sometimes to get their voice heard inside the European Union, but they’re doing a good job of riling their Russian counterparts.
Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the state Duma, contrasted the “realistic pragmatic approach” from the European Commission to the relationship with Russia to that it has with “the ideological institutions like the European Parliament.”
“There are quite a few people in the European Parliament who think the more they take decisions that irritate Russia the best it is for Europe. I’m not of this opinion. There is some kind of ideological wave which is unfurling over Europe, and it’s a very negative wave,” Mr. Pushkov told a group of academics and journalists in Moscow.
On Tuesday, the parliament adopted a recommendation calling on EU governments to implement sanctions on a list of officials responsible for the death of Sergei Magnitsky, a subsequent judicial cover-up and for the ongoing harassment of his mother and wife. The parliament recommended banning those people from entry into the EU, freezing their assets in the EU, and called on Russia to launch an independent investigation into his death.
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EU travel ban on Russian officials over Magnitsky case
The European Parliament has endorsed sanctions against around 60 Russian officials over the death of the lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. He died in custody in 2009 after being arrested on tax evasion charges. The 37-year-old had implicated top officials in a corruption case he was investigating.
The parliament has recommended an EU-wide travel ban. Kristiina Ojuland, the Estonian MEP who was the appointed by the parliament to investigate the case said: “We don’t want to see these individuals on EU territory.”
In addition to the visa ban, the resolution suggests Russian officials involved in the case should have their assets in the European Union frozen.
The move drew an angry response from Moscow. The Russian ambassador to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov said: “Unfortunately this is not improving the climate of our relations with the European Union. This is an attempt to politicise a human tragedy and to make political capital out of the death of Mr Magnitsky.”
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European Parliament’s Vote on Magnitsky Jars Russians
Senior lawmakers on Wednesday criticized a resolution by the European Parliament to establish a list of banned Russians similar to one under discussion in the U.S. Congress.
“This is yet another gross attempt to interfere in Russia’s internal affairs and [constitutes] bold pressure on our judicial system,” said Leonid Slutsky, deputy head of Russia’s delegation to the European Parliament and a Liberal Democratic Party member in the State Duma.
“Russia will not leave these attempts unanswered,” he told reporters.
Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the Duma’s International Affairs Committee and a United Russia member, said the proposal “aims to divide Europe and Russia” and might create a “negative political climate,” Ekho Moskvy radio reported.
On Tuesday, the European Parliament overwhelmingly approved the nonbinding resolution, which recommends entry bans and asset freezes for officials implicated in the 2009 prison death of anti-corruption lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
The lawmakers, who rejected a similar proposal two years ago, this time included a statement urging the Russian government “to conduct a credible and independent investigation encompassing all aspects of the case” and “to put an end to the widespread corruption and to reform the judicial system.”
The resolution also asks EU leaders, during their talks with Russian officials, to bring up Magnitsky and “the issue of intimidation and impunity in cases involving human rights defenders, journalists and lawyers in a more determined, resolute and result-oriented manner.”
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Kristiina Ojuland on the Sergei Magnitsky case
Speech by Kristiina Ojuland MEP (ALDE party) on imposing EU-wide common visa restrictions for Russian officials involved in the Sergei Magnitsky case.
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EU Lawmakers Call For Sanctions On Russians Involved In Magnitsky Case
The European Parliament has overwhelmingly approved a proposal recommending common visa-restriction regimes and asset freezes to target Russian officials involved in the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
It’s the second time such a resolution has come from Europarliamentarians, with EU members balking at a similar effort two years ago.
In addition to the measures by EU member states, the latest proposal calls on Russia “to conduct a credible and independent investigation encompassing all aspects of the case” and to stop widespread corruption by reforming the judicial system.
The text urges the EU to raise those issues in bilateral meetings with Russia authorities “in a more determined, resolute and result-oriented manner.”
Sergei Magnitsky, a Moscow attorney, was allegedly tortured and beaten to death following nearly a year of pretrial custody in 2009 after uncovering alleged massive fraud by Russian authorities.
The European Parliament passed a similar resolution in 2010, but EU member states have stopped short of endorsing an EU-wide sanctions regime.
Magnitsky’s mother, Natalia Magnitskaya, testified on October 2 at the trial of the sole defendant in the case — Dmitry Kratov, a former deputy warden at Moscow’s Butyrka detention center who is charged with negligence leading to the lawyer’s death. She has urged a further investigation and said other individuals must be held accountable for her son’s killing.
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“Magnitsky Law” as a universal tool?
The rejection of the Duma’s Speaker to lead the delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (Strasbourg) made headlines: apparently Sergey Naryshkin didn’t like to hear the report on Russia, examining its fulfillment of international obligations during the last seven years, simply labeling it as ‘a Russo-phobic’.
This was largely interpreted as an incapability to withstand well-grounded criticism by international partners – the 46 parliaments of member-states who expect the Kremlin to honor its international obligations on democratic development, including respect for Human Rights.
From the moment of the alleged flawed legislative elections the authoritarian rule in Russia has been desperate to keep the grip on power at any cost, a traditional Soviet-style violation of individual human rights attempting to create an atmosphere of fear and insecurity.
The season in the Duma started with a scandalous precedent of the stripping of a mandate from one of the most vocal critics of Putin, Gennady Goudkov (left-wing) who became subject of financial investigation shortly after he publically called Putin to step down.
The persecution of genuine political opponents followed after the draconian measures initiated by the Kremlin to silence the civil society: restricting demonstrations, use of internet, foreign aid, dramatically raising fines for all kind of civil disobediences, re-introduction of criminal charges for slander, all incompatible with the constitution.
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Expressed concerns to Russia
Once a year, the presidency and I, meet Russia’s ministers of justice and home affairs to discuss current topics within the area of justice, freedom and security – visa, human trafficking, drug smuggling, justice and migration. This permanent dialogue also includes human rights, corruption and the rule of law.
Today, the meeting was held in Nicosia, Cyprus, together with the Cypriote minister of Justice and minister of Home affairs. Russia is an important partner to the EU, and I have met the Russian minister of justice Alexander Konovalov several times. The meeting included a review of the general situation, especially the negotiations on visa liberalisation. This is done according an action plan, the so called “common steps”, where there is progress, but slow. Meanwhile, we facilitate in different ways the visa procedures between Russia and EU, making it easier for our citizens, tourists and businessmen to travel between EU and Russia.
Speaking on behalf of the EU, I expressed our concerns about the developments on the area of human rights and justice in Russia. We have seen several worrying examples lately – the severe and disproportionate sentence against the group Pussy Riot, the new law against NGO:s, the so called LGBT propaganda laws, and the Sergei Magnitsky case – for which we expect an independent investigation. The people accountable for his death must be brought to justice. онлайн займы unshaven girl https://zp-pdl.com/fast-and-easy-payday-loans-online.php https://zp-pdl.com/get-a-next-business-day-payday-loan.php быстрые займы онлайн
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