MEPs push for EU sanctions on corrupt foreign officials

Activists and members of the European Parliament are calling for notoriously corrupt foreign officials to face EU visa bans and asset freezes, in a proposal that has the backing of Estonia.

In a letter to EU leaders sent last October, 71 MEPs said individuals guilty of “serious corruption”, including bribery, embezzlement of public funds and laundering of the proceeds, should be added to the EU’s existing global human rights sanctions list.

The blacklist currently names 151 individuals and 34 entities. They include Russian judges accused of persecuting dissidents, Taliban officials enforcing moral codes, African warlords and extremist Israeli settlers.

The MEPs argue that the absence of corruption as a listing criterion leaves a gap in the EU’s framework. Australia, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom all include it in their equivalent laws.

According to the lawmakers, the gap lets corrupt foreign officials already sanctioned by other Western partners keep benefiting from EU institutions and the bloc’s financial systems.

via EU Observer