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Tuesday, March 2, 2021
Against Russian officials
The EU imposes new sanctions in the Navalny case
The EU’s demands for the immediate release of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny have so far had no effect. Now the EU is realizing its threats and imposing sanctions. Russia has already announced countermeasures.
The EU is imposing sanctions on top Russian state officials for the imprisonment of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. The corresponding legal act was approved in writing and will be published shortly in the Official Gazette of the EU, according to the German Press Agency from the diplomats in Brussels.
Russian attorney general Igor Krasnow and head of the central investigative committee Alexander Bastrykin are affected. In addition, the sanctions are directed against the head of the prison service, Alexander Kalashnikov, and the commander of the National Guard, Viktor Solotov.
A new sanction instrument created last year was used for the first time to impose EU sanctions. This makes it possible to freeze the existing assets in the EU of actors who commit serious human rights violations or who profit from them. In addition, entry bans into the EU are imposed. According to information from EU circles, the US also wants to impose sanctions on Tuesday for the actions of the Russian authorities against Navalny.
Kremlin: “Such a policy will not achieve its goal”
Russia criticized the announced punitive measures and threatened countermeasures. Those who use sanctions as a means of political pressure should know: “That policy will not achieve its goal,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, for his part, referred to the “principle of reciprocity” applicable in diplomacy.
Opposition politician Navalny was sentenced to detention in a Moscow camp in early February. He is said to have violated parole requirements multiple times in a previous criminal case in 2014 for fraud and embezzlement. The EU considers the ruling inadmissible because Navalny had to be treated in Germany for several months after a nerve poison attack on him. He suspects that the opposition politician should be politically on the sidelines.
Due to the attack on Navalny on August 20, 2020, the EU had already imposed entry and property bans on people suspected of being responsible for those around President Vladimir Putin last year. In Brussels, Russian state authorities are supposed to be behind the attack.
