The case for sanctioning the emerging “axis of autocrats” in Eastern Europe is gaining traction.
In testimony on Capitol Hill before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission in the House of Representatives last week, former Assistant Secretary of State David Kramer argued that it is time to broaden the aperture on sanctions against Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka in order to include his enablers in Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
“On sanctions I think it is time to cast a wider net than we have seen so far,” Kramer said. “I commend the administration and the European Union for what it has done, but it is not enough. We need to go after the so-called money bags, the individuals connected to Lukashenka who prop him up financially. These include Russian figures who have been instrumental in Lukashenka staying in power. Cut off the flows from them and you will water down the thin ice upon which Lukashenka stands.”
Kramer, who served as Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor in the administration of US President George W. Bush, went on to name specific Russian individuals and entities that could be targeted.