Medvedchuk is under Czech sanctions: what is known
Kyiv • UNN
The Czech government has added Viktor Medvedchuk, a pro-Russian politician accused of treason, and two individuals associated with him to its national sanctions list for activities aimed at undermining the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.
The Czech sanctions list includes new Russian names. Among them is Ukraine's traitor Viktor Medvedchuk, UNN reports with reference to Radio Prague.
Details
On Wednesday, the Czech government approved three new entries in the national sanctions list on the proposal of Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky. These are one legal entity and two individuals. The first person added to the list is Viktor Medvedchuk, who runs a Russian influence operation in the Czech Republic from Russia. Given that this activity is punishable under the Sanctions Act, the government decided to register this person on the national sanctions list. Medvedchuk uses the company Voice of Europe s.r.o. and an individual, Artem Marchevsky, who were also included in the sanctions list.
This decision, according to the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is in the interests of the security of the Czech Republic and also contributes to the protection of democracy in the upcoming European Parliament elections. As there was a threat of failure of this goal, Czech diplomacy decided to add the subjects to the national sanctions list before the proposal for inclusion in the EU sanctions list. "With this step, we decided to strike at a pro-Russian network that was trying to develop an operation on our territory that could seriously affect the security of the Czech Republic. The operation of this group was to commit acts against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. The actions affected by these sanctions are thoroughly documented. The package of evidence contains more than 300 pages," the Czech Prime Minister said, thanking the Security Service (BIS) for its work.
According to the prime minister, the activities did not directly affect the political arena of the Czech Republic, although they took place on its territory. For example, it was directed towards the European Parliament, which Petr Fiala understands as a confirmation of Russia's longstanding efforts to interfere and influence democratic processes in Europe. "Other countries and institutions will work with this information and our decision," he said.
So far, six people have been on the Czech sanctions list: Moscow Patriarch Kirill, Russian businessman Vladimir Yevtushenko and his son Felix Yevtushenko, the couple Rostislav and Olga Zorykov, and a company managing Russian assets abroad, which includes Russian real estate in the Czech Republic, including that used for diplomatic purposes. Businessman Boris Obnosov was also included in the list, but was removed from it after being included in the EU sanctions list.
Persons on the list are prohibited from entering and staying in the Czech Republic and from conducting any financial transactions in the country. The Financial Intelligence Unit will also freeze any assets that the individuals on the list may have in the Czech Republic. This was made possible by the so-called Magnitsky Act, which was introduced by Foreign Minister Lipavsky and came into force at the beginning of last year.
