Navalny calls on the European Union to impose sanctions on those close to Putin



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Russian political opponent Alexei Navalny urged the European Union to reject the results of next year’s Russian parliamentary elections in case any candidate cannot participate and also called for sanctions to be imposed on those close to President Vladimir Putin, who have money. and influence.

The 44-year-old dissident collapsed during a flight from Siberia to Moscow and was flown for treatment in Germany, where experts concluded that he was poisoned with a nerve gas developed in the Soviet era.

He told European Union lawmakers that he believes it is “important that Europe is not silent” on the situation in Russia. Navalny described the upcoming September elections for the House of Representatives in Russia as “a very critical event.” He noted that “he and other opposition politicians expect some manipulation of the vote,” adding that “the most important thing is the right to participate.”

وقال Navalny, Who was prevented several times from running for election at various levels, “The countries of the bloc should change their approach to sanctions,” explaining that it makes no sense to impose travel bans or freeze assets for cases of poisoning or electoral irregularities that they affect the military because they generally don’t move Outside of Russia, or they own real estate, or they may not have bank accounts in Europe. “

He added that the European Union should ask itself why these alleged crimes occurred. “The European Union should target the funds from the new circle of super-wealthy businessmen surrounding Putin,” he told EU lawmakers via video link.

In early October, the European Union’s foreign ministers imposed sanctions on six Russian officials and a government research institute for the Navalny poisoning. Russia announced retaliatory measures, as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced Russian sanctions against various employees of the ruling departments in Germany and France, in the context of the Navalny case.

Lavrov said that “Moscow cannot exclude the story that Navalny was poisoned with a chemical in Germany, or on the plane that took him to Berlin,” as he himself put it.

For his part, Vladimir Kara-Morza, a prominent anti-Putin activist living in the United States, urged the European Union to commit to upholding its values, saying: “Stop empowering these corrupt and abusive officials who want to rob our people. in Russia and enjoy his looting in the countries of the European Union spending his vacations and sending His wives and girlfriends go shopping, buy yachts, real estate, etc. “

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