Thirty-six MEPs of 18 different nationalities, from the ALDE, EPP, ECR, S&D and Greens/EFA Groups, called on Thursday 6 October on parliamentarians from the Russian Duma to have European sanctions issued against them.
Pointing out that the EU cannot recognise the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by the Russian Federation, and that it therefore cannot recognise the holding of elections in the Crimean peninsula, the MEPs said in a letter to EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini that they demand that six parliamentarians be added to the sanctions list, as this is fully coherent with the EU’s policy for territorial integrity and sovereignty for Ukraine. The individuals in question are Ruslan Balbek, Mikhail Sheremet, Andrey Kozenko, Konstantin Bakharev, Dmitry Belik and Svetlana Savchenko. A seventh parliamentarian, Natalya Poklonskaya, is already subject to sanctions as general prosecutor for Crimea, a post from which she resigned to start work at the Duma.
In their letter, the MEPs say they are convinced that including these Russians who have been unlawfully elected in Crimea, a region of Ukraine, fully complies with the EU’s existing policy and they therefore await the Council’s decision.
Several sources have told EUROPE that as far as they know, there are not any talks at present about issuing sanctions, but that it is something that could arise at any point. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)