On Monday 18 January, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, speaking on behalf of the EU, condemned the arrest of Russian political opponent Alexei Navalny the day before and called for his immediate release.
Arrested when he got off the plane in Moscow on 17 January, after several months of treatment in Germany following an attempted murder by poisoning (see EUROPE 12573/4), Mr Navalny was placed in pre-trial detention on 18 January, until 15 February, for violating the conditions of a suspended prison sentence to be served in 2014.
“Politicisation of the judiciary is unacceptable and Mr Navalny’s rights must be respected”, the High Representative said in a statement on behalf of the EU27. He also called on the Russian authorities to release without delay journalists and citizens detained because of their reporting and their support for Mr Navalny on his return to Russia.
“This detention confirms a continuous negative pattern of shrinking space for the opposition, civil society and independent voices in the Russian Federation”, Borrell said.
Just minutes after Mr Navalny’s arrest, many European leaders called for his release. While for the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, the detention of Mr Navalny is “unacceptable”, for the President of the European Parliament, David Sassoli, it is “an offence to the international community, to Europe, which helped to save his life”.
While the declaration on behalf of the EU27 merely warned that the EU would closely monitor developments in the situation and would continue to take them into account when shaping its policy towards Russia, in a joint communiqué the foreign ministers of the three Baltic countries said that if Mr Navalny was not released, Europe should consider imposing restrictive measures.
“We call on the EU to strengthen the sanctions against the Russian officials involved in the poisoning of Mr Navalny, and to widen their scope” (see EUROPE 12582/9), also stressed the Chairman of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, David McAllister (EPP, Germany), and the European Parliament rapporteur on Russia, Andrius Kubilius (EPP, Lithuania), noting that the EU now has a sanctions regime for human rights violations (see EUROPE 12617/2). At the end of November, before Parliament, Mr Navalny himself had called on the Union to sanction oligarchs close to President Putin (see EUROPE 12611/5).
Mr Navalny’s arrest could be the subject of a discussion between European leaders during their video conference on Thursday 21 January. In the meantime, MEPs will take up the subject on Tuesday, in a plenary debate with the High Representative, which will be followed by the adoption of a resolution on 21 January. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)