Europe imposes sanctions on Russia, but not the kind Navalny wanted

Russia has gone far too far to capture opposition leader Navalny immediately after his arrival. This is the opinion of the vast majority of European Union countries. Today the foreign ministers are meeting in Brussels and they are very likely to impose new sanctions against Russia.

The sanctions will apply to people who have been involved in human rights violations in Russia. These could be police officers who arrested Navalny, judges who pronounced his sentence, or people who have recently been involved in the suppression of protests in Russia. Their bank balances will be frozen and they will no longer be given visas to travel to the EU.

That may sound like a solid approach, but it is not what the meanwhile imprisoned Navalny himself wants. He met with MEPs at the end of November and called on Brussels to impose sanctions against wealthy Russian oligarchs. If they can no longer dock their luxury yachts in the ports of Monaco and Barcelona, they will put pressure on Putin to change course, Navalny argues.