On Tuesday 19 January, MEPs representing all the political groups denounced the arrest of Russian political opponent Alexei Navalny (see EUROPE 12638/14).
In a debate in the European Parliament with the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, many MEPs called on the EU to adopt new sanctions against Russia. “Respect for civil, political and human rights must be at the centre of relations between the EU, Member States and non-Member States”, summarised Marco Zianni (Italy) on behalf of ID, while Germany's David McAllister, on behalf of the EPP, said the Navalny affair “weakens relations between the EU and Russia”.
According to Isabel Santos (S&D, Portugal), as long as those responsible for Mr Navalny's situation are in power, Mr Navalny will remain in prison until his death. “The EU and the international community must stand up to this reality”, she called, demanding that those responsible for his arrest be punished.
“The EU must have a clear response and sanctions must be increased against those involved in the arrest and those who gave the order to do so”, added Mr McAllister, recalling that since December 2020 the EU has an EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime.
Witold Jan Waszczykowski (ECR, Poland) went further, listing those who could be sanctioned. He said that Russian athletes, oligarchs or researchers who live or do tourism or business in the EU should be punished and that certain goods should be subject to a European embargo. “The part of Russian society that supports Putin must taste the price of Putin's imperial policy”, he said.
Estonian Urmas Paet, on behalf of Renew Europe, advocated for energy-related measures. During the debate, several MEPs called for measures against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
In response, the High Representative recalled that sanctions were taken unanimously and that the Commission could not prevent the implementation of Nord Stream 2 - a private project - if Germany gave its agreement. Mr Borrell also stressed that the overall relationship between the EU and Russia could not be reduced to the situation of Alexei Navalny, but that the EU would continue to react to this situation.
The Foreign Affairs EU Council of 25 January could address this issue. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)