Minister of Justice Zadic Soul (Greens) described the European Commission’s proposal that the assets of Russian oligarchs should be more easily confiscated as “very sensible”. “Due to inconsistent regulations across Europe, there may be gaps,” Zadić stressed on Thursday ahead of a meeting with his EU counterparts in Luxembourg. Therefore, there is a need to standardize the level of punishment and offences, he demanded.
The EU Commission has proposed that circumventing sanctions be considered a crime across the EU. According to them, Russian billionaires close to the Kremlin have so far circumvented sanctions by bringing yachts into international waters or transferring assets to other owners.
EU justice ministers will discuss this on Thursday, but there is no agreement yet. You “will have to tighten a lot of screws,” says Zadić. At the same time, she was convinced “that there will also be a certain convergence on this issue”.