The United States will impose sanctions on individuals from the Balkans in January, the International Security Institute in Belgrade announced on its Twitter account.

According to them, “sanctions will be imposed on a part of the political and business community in Serbia, Republika Srpska, Montenegro and Kosovo” on the basis of the Magnitsky Law.

In a statement for Danas, Orhan Dragaš, director of the International Security Institute, says that there are about 50 people and that these are targeted sanctions against individuals and not against the state, because then, as he says, people who have nothing to do with it usually suffer.

“These are targeted individual sanctions that affect those against whom they are directed and give results. In Bulgaria, they proved to be very effective, where there were 50 people and companies close to Boyko Borisov on the list of sanctions. And you can see that it had the effect and he dramatically lost the elections”.

Dragaš says the announcement of sanctions is in line with what Gabriel Escobar, the US special envoy for the Western Balkans, said recently. We remind you that Escobar said during his visit to the region that it is clear that sanctions against politicians are a realistic option.

“And not only sanctions, there are other economic means that can be implemented not only against the leaders who carry out anti-Dayton activities, but also against those who support them, against the companies that help them”, he announced. During Escobar’s visit to Montenegro, it could be heard that the State Department was considering imposing sanctions on officials from the current and former Montenegrin authorities “for endangering peace and stability in the region and links to corruption”.

Dragaš also announced for Danas that the International Security Institute has prepared a Model Law on restrictive measures due to serious human rights violations, and that they will soon propose the law “Magnitsky Act Srbija” to the Serbian parliament for adoption.

He adds that they created the legal model in full cooperation and with the full support of Bill Browder, who, Dragaš explains, initiated the adoption of the first Magnitsky Law in the USA in 2012 as a response of democracies to the gross human rights violations and corruption resulting from such violence.

Source: Danas