Speeches

Madam President, in defence and protection of human rights worldwide, we must employ the full range of instruments to prevent and eradicate the causes of human rights violations. It is time to add corruption to the list of crimes sanctioned by the European Union’s Magnitsky Act. It is not right that the sanctions regime called after Sergei Magnitsky cannot be applied to Putin’s cronies who are misappropriating public funds and depriving the Russian people of quality state services and a dignified life. Corruption crimes constitute a significant part of human rights violations. It can be illustrated by the cases of collapsed school buildings or maternal deaths due to embezzled public funds. It is a far—reaching disease, from the Gupta family’s crimes in South Africa to high—ranking officials’ collaboration with drug cartels in Latin America, which can be contained only by showing that there will be dire consequences. It’s not a choice. It’s a must.