EU Parliament may adopt EU-wide Magnitsky Act

The European Parliament will consider a proposal to expand sanctions against Russia, including personal ones, and to create EU-wide version of US Magnitsky Act, according to a draft resolution on EU-Russia relations.

"The European Parliament believes that the EU should stand ready to consider adopting further sanctions, including targeted personal sanctions, in response to Russia's continued actions; calls for a European version of the Magnitsky Act," the draft resolution says.

The draft was submitted to the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs by Sandra Kalniete, a lawmaker from Latvia. The document will be discussed by the committee on Thursday.

In December 2012, the United States adopted the Magnitsky Act on sanctions against Russian nationals, who are allegedly involved in violations of human rights. In 2016, Washington adopted the Global Magnitsky Act that allows the US government to impose sanctions on any entity or individual implicated in human rights abuses.

On November 19, Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok said that a new EU mechanism of sanctions against human rights violations would be discussed during a meeting of EU government officials. According to Blok, there is no consensus on this issue yet, but the topic may be put on the agenda of the next ministerial talks in December.

An EU official familiar with consultations told Sputnik that the European Union considered the initiative of the Dutch authorities to create a broad mechanism of sanctions for human rights violations worthy of consideration, but added that it was too early to talk about any specific.