You're reading: Austria backs sanctions against officials responsible for violence

On Feb. 19, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz stated that the European Union should enact targeted sanctions against Ukrainian officials, which usually involves the freezing of bank accounts. A number of Ukrainian incumbent and former government officials have assets in Austria.

“Europe must not look away when people are being shot in their own backyard,” Kurz said. “Violence must not go unpunished.”

At the same time, Austria’s State Secretary for Finance Sonja Stesslalso proposed freezing the Austrian bank accounts of Ukrainian oligarchs supporting those behind the violence on Kyiv’s streets where more than 60 died this week in clashes between militant anti-government activists and police.

“That would be a political signal to support Ukraine’s democratic movement,” Stessl said in a written statement to Austria Press Agency. The finance ministry is in charge of sanctions, according to the body’s spokesperson.

Statements on introducing sanctions came from Austria during a visit to Kyiv by European foreign ministers from France, Germany and Poland to discuss with President Viktor Yanukovych the political crisis in Ukraine.

Kurz has been consistently outspoken about his support for the EuroMaidan protests. In the wake of the first death recorded on EuroMaidan on Jan. 22, Kurz officially expressed his sympathy with the demonstrators and chastised the government: “That young demonstrators had to pay with their lives in order to spread democracy and their dissatisfaction with the government’s refusal to engage in dialogue is frightening. These incidents should be promptly investigated and those responsible for them must be brought to justice.”

A number of politicians close to Yanukovych have property and assets in Austria, including the son of former Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and Presidential Administration head Andriy Klyuyev. Azarov flew to Vienna within days of his Jan. 28 resignation, where his son resides. During an interview with the Kyiv Post, Serhiy Klyuyev, the younger brother of Andriy Klyuyev, said that while he owns assets in Austria, no sanctions have been enacted against him so far.

More evidence that Austrian feelings are hardening against members of the Ukrainian government might have appeared on the flight tracking site www.flightradar24, which showed that on Feb. 19 private jets Canadair CL601 Challenger and Gulfstream G200 Galaxy en route from Kyiv to Vienna were not allowed to enter Austrian airspace and subsequently were forced to return to Kyiv. Such jets are often used by Ukrainian businessmen and officials for their needs.

Kyiv Post business journalist Evan Ostryzniuk can be reached at [email protected].