Azerbaijan and Armenia ‘disappeared’ from the list of countries supporting the ‘Magnitsky list’

2023-12-19 22:24:12

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been removed from the list of countries supporting the extension of the “Magnitsky list” of the European Union until December 8, 2026 – for another three years.

Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ani Badalyan said that Armenia did not join the December 4 decision of the Council of the European Union to extend the period of this list.

Before that, both Azerbaijan and Armenia, together with the candidate countries for EU membership – North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine, Moldova, Bosnia-Herzegovina, on the official website of the Council of Europe, the EU Commissioner for Foreign Affairs Jozep Borrelwere shown in the list published on behalf of

However, just yesterday, on December 18, Borrell’s statement on the extension of the mentioned list did not include the names of Azerbaijan and Armenia.

The reasons for removing Azerbaijan and Armenia from the list of countries supporting the extension of the period of this list are not specified.

Armenia’s position

Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan before that, he declared that Yerevan must join the sanctions against Russia.

At the same time, the Western media reports that Armenia is one of the countries that help Russia circumvent the sanctions.

This is evidenced by the multiple increase in exports from Armenia to Russia.

Although the Armenian government admits that a large part of this is re-export to Russia, it states that the country does not export sanctioned goods to Russia.

Georgia is not on the list of countries in favor of extending the “Magnitsky list” of Europe.

The Georgian service of RFE/RL has sent a request to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia in this regard, but has not yet received an answer.

Why is Georgia not on the list?

Although Georgia supported Europe’s “Magnitsky list” in 2020, it did not appear in subsequent decisions on the extension of this list.

The “Magnitsky List” regime envisages the freezing of the assets of the power structures and companies of Russia, Iran, North Korea, Syria and other states in Europe, and the prohibition of the entry of human rights violators from these countries into the territory of the Union.

For example, this list includes a number of high-ranking Russian officials – the former head of the Russian penitentiary service Alexander KalashnikovChairman of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykinin, chief prosecutor Igor Krasnovun and the head of the Russian Guard Viktor ZolotovThere are names.

The “Magnitsky Act” was first adopted in 2012 in the United States. Law is a tax consultant who died violently in Moscow’s “Matrosskaya Tishina” prison in 2009. Sergey Maknitskyis named after

Georgia, which recently received the status of a candidate for European Union membership, had to support the extension of the “Magnitsky list” on the recommendation of the European Commission.

Freedom radio