Sanctions evasion must be treated in the EU as a criminal offense, not as a secondary violation. EU member states need to fully implement the EU Directive that establishes a common standard of criminal liability for violating and circumventing the Union’s restrictive measures.
This was stated in a comment to Guildhall by Member of the Seimas of Lithuania Emanuelis Zingeris.
According to the MP, “all methods of sanctions evasion must be prevented, and effective investigation of their violations must also be ensured.” He stressed that for this, “countries must adopt the relevant national laws or amendments.”
Speaking at the EU-wide level, he noted that “the harmonisation of definitions and penalties for the violation and circumvention of EU sanctions was an important step forward.” He recalled that “in 2024, the EU adopted the Directive on the definition of criminal offences and penalties for the violation of the Union’s restrictive measures.”
This directive “sets a new common standard that defines certain violations and methods of sanctions circumvention as criminal offences.” The MP also pointed out that “member states were required to adopt the necessary laws to comply with this Directive by 20 May 2025.”
Earlier, Estonian Member of the European Parliament Riho Terras stated that the EU needs to strengthen coordination in combating the circumvention of sanctions against Russia, since cross-border schemes are difficult to detect and prosecute when national authorities act in isolation.
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