EU SANCTIONS AND NON-PROLIFERATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS: THE CASE OF PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS CAUGHT IN THE CROSSHAIRS OF EU’S SANCTIONS POLICY

Abstract

Sanctions are one of EU's tools to promote the objectives of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, namely, the
furtherance of peace, democracy and the respect for the rule of law and human rights. The sanctions the EU adopts
within the framework of its Common Foreign and Security Policy bear important legal consequences upon the
human rights situation of the natural and legal persons affected. The paper follows a case study approach, focusing
on the case of an Iranian doctoral student being denied residence in Germany as a result of the application of EU’s
sanctions regime against Iran. The main aim is to examine the ways in which the protection of fundamental rights as
one of the bedrocks of the EU legal order can be squared with the far-reaching restrictive effect of the EU-adopted
sanctions.