EU Sanctions List Updates for Usmanov and Fridman
GeopoliticsComments
This mirrors the recent tension between the US and the ICC. Both cases show a growing friction between established international legal frameworks and the immediate goals of national security strategies.
Would it be possible that following judicial mandates is actually the political strategy? If the EU ignored court rulings to keep sanctions in place, they might risk a total legal collapse of the sanctions regime itself.
I disagree that the oligarchs are the only ones who win here. Upholding the rule of law, even when it is inconvenient, preserves the integrity of the EU for the millions of citizens who rely on those same legal protections.
The upside is that the EU is essentially stress-testing its legal architecture. It is better to find these exit ramps now and tighten the legislation than to have the entire sanctions list invalidated in one massive court ruling later.
look at the german state election results: the center is collapsing.
Exactly. The EU cannot project strength globally when its own internal political pillars are crumbling. Why bother with sanctions when you cannot even hold a stable coalition in Berlin?
If the political center is shifting that much, does this mean we should expect more of these legal loopholes to be used for other sanctioned figures?
The OP is correct about the legal loop. EU courts frequently apply the proportionality principle, which requires the EU to provide updated evidence for every single individual listing periodically or the sanction becomes legally void.