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Hände hoch, Herr Putin!

Article by: Oleksiy Honcharenko
Translated by: Christine Chraibi

As reported by Ukrainska Pravda, the foreign ministers of four German-speaking countries – Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria and Germany – have recently held their annual meeting, during which they approved a joint declaration of total commitment to resolving the Ukrainian crisis within the framework of the OSCE. We can be sure that soon we will be getting another batch of condolences, and words of concern and support for Ukraine by these four countries. However, things could be different…

We all know that three of the four countries participating in the meeting are the world’s biggest tax havens. The banks of Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Austria safeguard the lion’s share of the global elite’s personal money. The Russian and pro-Russian pseudo-elite is no exception. For example, Vienna is a financial haven for the Firtash group, and the Yanukovych and Azarov clans. Viktor Vekselberg, who owns a major Russian conglomerate, has taken a fancy to two Swiss cantons – Zurich and Zug. And, the shores of Lake Geneva are densely populated by pro-Putin central Asian princelings and several patriotic Ukrainian oligarchs.

This one fact is true and obvious… When it comes to the criminal export of capital from Russia, the money always ends up at specific destinations, i.e. specific banks in specific cities in specific countries. These countries make up the very concerned German-speaking foursome in the OSCE.

Switzerland’s economic power alone is enough to put an end to the Putin regime. A radical freeze of all European accounts owned by pro-Kremlin scum and their acolytes would bring the Putin regime to the knees in a matter of days. Russian oligarchs would stop supporting Putin if he could no longer be the guarantor of their endless criminal enrichment. This is Putin’s specific role as president of the Russian Federation, which he regularly performs under the daily threat of regicide. Blocking the personal bank accounts of Russian oligarchs and banning them from entering the EU will create optimal economic conditions for an internal Kremlin coup and, consequently, a radical change in Russia’s foreign policy.

Freezing the personal accounts of Russian oligarchs could become a key factor in the implementation of the “common commitment to resolving the Ukrainian crisis within the framework of the OSCE”, concluded between Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria and Germany. The Kremlin just turns away and spits on all other global resolutions.

Translated by: Christine Chraibi
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