To counter violations of the sanctions regime, the European Union should rely more actively on investigative journalism, lawyers, human rights defenders, activists, and the expert community, since it is precisely public oversight that can prevent national politicians from evading the implementation of decisions that have already been adopted.
This was stated in a comment to Guildhall by Lithuanian MEP Petras Auštrevičius.
According to him, “general political monitoring by investigative journalism, by lawyers, human rights defenders, activists, and experts is very, very important” in order “not to allow national politicians to evade this or find some excuse for not doing it.” According to him, it is necessary to “simply ask them when and how this kind of decision will be implemented.”
The MEP stressed that “such requests for answers and explanations are very unpopular,” but “once you make it public, national politicians and the national, so to speak, executive system cannot ignore it, and they are obliged to respond.” He added: “that is why I see only this way. Other means, I mean, have already been exhausted,” and “many decisions have been adopted, but they are not actually implemented, I mean, to the end.”
Auštrevičius also stated separately that in the matter of sanctions such cooperation “must absolutely be ensured.” According to him, “investigative journalism is a very powerful tool,” and “when some shocking revelation appears, say, about ignoring the implementation of sanctions or circumventing sanctions, it has a huge impact on national politics.” “It is impossible to ignore,” he stressed, adding that “this should be used to the fullest extent and more intensively.”
Earlier, the United States partially lifted sanctions on the largest Belarusian state-owned banks and potash fertilizer producers, explaining this by the need to maintain global food security and prevent fertilizer shortages on the world market.
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