The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, deplored on Friday 1 April the decision of the Russian authorities to ban a number of EU officials from entering the territory of the Russian Federation in retaliation for EU sanctions related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“EU sanctions are a response to Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine. They aim to put an end to these illegal and destructive actions”, stressed Mr Borrell. He recalled that, unlike Russian counter-sanctions, EU restrictive measures are published “in a transparent manner and [are] based on clear criteria, including the legal means to challenge them”.
On 31 March, the Russian government announced that in response to the EU’s “unilateral” sanctions, Russia “acting on the basis of reciprocity, which is fundamental for international law”, was expanding “significantly the list of representatives of EU Member States and institutions who will be denied entry to the Russian Federation”.
Without giving a detailed list of those affected, the Russian Foreign Ministry explained that the restrictions applied to “top leadership of the EU, a number of EU commissioners and heads of EU military bodies, as well as the overwhelming majority of members of the European Parliament who have advanced anti-Russian policies”.
The reciprocal Russian blacklist also includes high-level officials, including members of governments and parliaments of certain EU Member States, public figures and media outlets “personally responsible for promoting illegal anti-Russian sanctions, inflaming Russophobic sentiments and infringing on the rights and freedoms of Russian-speakers”.
According to the ministry, “Brussels is arbitrarily imposing unilateral restrictions against numerous Russian citizens and companies”. “Their personal data is being openly released in contravention of every international legal norm currently in force. Absurd and unlawful ‘criteria’ are hastily being cooked up in order to add more names to the list”, it said.
It warned that any further “unfriendly” action by the EU and its Member States would “inevitably be met by a forceful response”.
See the Russian press release: https://aeur.eu/f/132
In addition, the spokesperson for the European External Action Service condemned on Friday 1 April the new conscription campaign in Crimea and Sevastopol, “in order to enrol the inhabitants of the peninsula in the Russian armed forces”.
“The enlistment of all eligible men, including Crimean Tatars, in illegally annexed Crimea is particularly cynical, as they are forced to engage directly in Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine”, he said. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)