The fight against corruption should also take into account the effects it can have on the national security. In that direction, the introduction of targeted sanctions, following the example of the USA, against individuals directly involved in acts of corruption is particularly significant. Sanctioning individuals by banning entry into a country and access to its financial system, which is made possible with the Global Act “Magnitsky”, is a powerful tool for preserving international peace and security. All the more, this approach enables targeting of persons who are directly guilty of acts of high corruption and violations of human rights and emphasizes that individuals bear consequences for their acts in the international sphere as well. It is particularly important that the basic criterion for sanctioning under this Act should be persons who are current or former public officials, who, in the Western Balkans, very often do not serve sentence for the acts they are accused of.
The “black list” that the US has begun to create for persons from the Western Balkans involved in acts of high corruption should be recognized as an opportunity to strengthen domestic anticorruption efforts. National authorities should show readiness to join the global sanctions against persons who, with their participation in corruption, act corrosively in countries that are our partners and follow the example of the USA, the United Kingdom and the EU. Even more important than this is for the authorities to take action and sanction domestic corruption actors in a timely manner, thus demonstrating readiness to fight corruption, rather than waiting for international partners to solve the problem. In this way, the country will show that it is an ally in the fight against corruption and joins the efforts of the international community to deal with corruption in the country.
Corruption and national security: How does one end up on the US blacklist?