European Parliament calls for Russia sanctions

The European Parliament wants fresh sanctions against the Putin regime.

Roxana Vasile, 10.02.2021, 13:50

The
case of the Putin critic Alexei Navalny, who was jailed after previously
surviving a poisoning attempt, has strained relations between the European
Union and Russia. The conflict is now open following an announcement that
Brussels is considering new sanctions against Russia for violating fundamental
human rights and harshening its attitude against the opposition, which the
Kremlin accuses of treason.

In a meeting of the European Parliament on Tuesday,
the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, back from a recent trip to Moscow, called
for new containment measures and said he would use his right of initiative to
put forward proposals combining action against disinformation and cyberattacks.
He said the Russian authorities are going down an authoritarian route and have
shown in the Navalny case that they are merciless in stifling freedom of
expression. He explained that his trip to Moscow served two purposes: to convey
the position of the European Union on the situation of Alexei Navalny and to
see if the Russian authorities are interested in reversing the deterioration of
its relations with the EU. And the answer, said Josep Borrel, was NO. During Borrell’s
trip to Russia, three diplomats, from Germany, Poland and Sweden, were expelled,
and Borrell was denied a request to visit Navalny in jail.

Against
this background, a number of central and east European MEPs described Borrell’s
visit as humiliating and some even called for his resignation. In their
opinion, Borrell’s trip was a trap set by Vladimir Putin himself to humiliate the
European Union. Many also accused some EU member states of hypocrisy over their
continued economic relations with a dictatorial regime hostile to its own citizens.
MEPs agreed, however, that the European Union must help the Russian people, together
with the United States, who also condemned the arrest of Alexei Navalny.

The
European Union will not be intimidated, said European Council president Charles
Michel, who denounced Russia’s aggressive behaviour. NATO secretary general Jens
Stoltenberg said Navalny’s detention is a perversion of justice because it targets
the victim of an attempted killing, while the attackers remain at large. (CM)