The EU imposed sanctions on Russia for Alexei Navalny’s imprisonment. The government in Moscow is now responding – with entry bans.
In response to entry bans, the government in Moscow has banned eight representatives from EU countries from entering Russia. Among them is EU Parliament President David Sassoli, EU Vice Commission President Věra Jourová and the Berlin Public Prosecutor Jörg Raupach. The Russian Foreign Ministry announced. It had already announced countermeasures. In March, the EU imposed sanctions on high-ranking Russian state officials to arrest Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

Russia criticized this decision again and accused the EU of anti-Russian hysteria. All proposals from Moscow to solve problems between Russia and the EU would be “consistently ignored or rejected”. The aim is apparently to curb the development of Russia at all costs, it said.

For their part, the EU leaders reacted to Russia’s recent entry bans. “We strongly condemn today’s decision by the Russian authorities to forbid eight EU citizens from entering Russian territory,” said Ursula von der Leyen in a joint statement by the heads of the EU Commission, the European Council and the European Parliament.

Charles Michel and David Sassoli. The decision is directed against the European Union, not just against the people involved. It is the latest demonstration that Russia has chosen to confront the EU instead of agreeing to change the negative course of bilateral relations. The EU reserves the right to take appropriate action in response.