The Foreign Ministers of the Member States of the European Union expressed their concern on Monday 25 January about the arrest of more than 3,000 peaceful demonstrators who were protesting over the weekend against the detention of political opponent Alexei Navalny in Russia, calling for his release.
“For the EU Council, the arrest of Alexei Navalny and the repression of his supporters is totally unacceptable”, stressed the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, at the end of the meeting of foreign affairs ministers. He added that the EU Council condemned the mass detention and police brutality over the weekend and called for the immediate release of Mr Navalny and all those detained in connection with the Russian political opponent’s situation.
“Everyone has the right to express his or her opinion and to demonstrate; this must be possible. Russia has always been committed to this. Therefore, we demand that all those who are detained for the simple reason of having expressed their disagreement be released”, said German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.
His Romanian colleague, Bogdan Aurescu, denouncing a “very aggressive” attitude towards the demonstrators, recalled that “the freedoms of assembly and expression are very important fundamental rights; they have to be respected”. “Repression against the opposition just because it is an opposition is unacceptable and non democratic”, he added.
Although, on his arrival, the Lithuanian minister, Gabrielius Landsbergis, reiterated that the new EU sanctions regime on human rights “must be used decisively to send a message that human rights abuses, wherever they happen, in Minsk, Moscow or Hong Kong, will never be tolerated”, the High Representative explained that no minister had made any concrete proposals at the meeting and, therefore, no decision had been taken on possible measures.
Mr Borrell to travel to Russia in early February
Beyond a response to the repression of the Russian authorities, the Slovakian minister Ivan Korčok considered that the EU should think more broadly about the future of its relations with Russia.
In order, among other things, to prepare for the March European Council, which will focus on EU/Russia relations, the High Representative will visit Russia in the first week of February, following a long-standing invitation from the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov. When asked about a possible meeting with Mr Navalny on this occasion, Mr Borrell remained unclear, saying that he would be happy to see him. He added, however, that this was a visit to the Russian government, but that the question of Navalny would be raised.
PACE calls for release of demonstrators
Furthermore, following the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, who last week called on the Russian authorities to “swiftly address the systemic shortcomings of a judicial and institutional system that is undermining human rights, democracy and the Rule of law”, the two rapporteurs from the Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) on political prisoners in Russia issued a statement on Monday 25 January.
France’s Jacques Maire (ALDE) and Iceland’s Sunna Aevarsdottir (SOC) called for the immediate release of “all persons arrested for exercising their freedoms of expression and assembly as protected by the European Convention on Human Rights”.
This concerns “most, if not all those arrested on Saturday”, who can be “considered prima facie political prisoners”, Mrs Aevarsdottir said.
The Parliamentary Assembly also decided on Monday, at the opening of its first plenary session in 2021, to devote a current affairs debate to the arrest and detention of Alexei Navalny. This exchange will take place on Wednesday 27 January at 4 pm and will be opened by Jacques Maire, who is also PACE rapporteur on the poisoning of the opponent last August. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant and Véronique Leblanc with Léa Marchal)