In very recent news, the EU is planning to adopt sanctions against former Egyptian officials who are being accused of stashing billions of dollars abroad. This information comes from an EU official and is apparently going to happen next week.
Objectives of the Sanctions
As the EU official stated, "The objective is that the asset freeze can be adopted at the foreign ministers' meeting on Monday." This refers to a meeting that involves the 27 EU states in Brussels. The request for the sanctions actually comes from Egypt, as Egypt asked both the U.S. and the EU to freeze the assets of several former officials last month.
British Explanations
The British Foreign Secretary William Hague, acknowledging the request from Egypt to freeze assets, told the British parliament on Tuesday that Britain is working towards this at the EU level. He explained, however, that they are having a difficult time pursuing the Egyptian request because of the “lack of information that has been supplied by the Egyptian authorities."
Working as a Team in the EU
He went on to explain why Britain, by itself, hasn’t taken steps in this direction. As the Foreign Secretary explained, "We have urged progress within the European Union so that this is done on a European Union basis and that means that the decisive action remains to be taken."
