The widow of Russian political opponent Alexei Navalny, Yulia Navalnaya, spoke in Strasbourg in the Chamber on Wednesday 28 February. In particular, she called on MEPs to step up their actions and not to be satisfied with “another resolution” or “another set of sanctions that is no different from the previous ones” to “defeat Putin and his criminal gang”.
“You are not dealing with a politician, but with a bloody monster”, she hammered home, arguing that the focus should be on “people close to Putin, his friends, associates and keepers of mafia money”.
During her 12-minute speech, Mrs Navalnaya - concerned that none of the EU’s restrictive measures had succeeded in bringing an end to Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine - also invited MEPs to take inspiration from her husband and show themselves to be “politically innovative”.
According to the widow of the Russian political opponent, “diplomatic notes” and other “statements of concern” should be replaced by “investigations into the financial machinations” and “a search for mafia associates in your countries, for the discreet lawyers and financiers who are helping Putin and his friends to hide money”.
“In this fight you have reliable allies - there are tens of millions of Russians who are against Putin, against the war, against the evil he brings”, she said. She added: “You must not persecute them but, on the contrary, work with them, with us”.
“Suffocating” Putin
For their part, the MEPs unanimously praised the “courage” and “determination” of the Navalny couple. All of them also condemned - with a more timid rigour among some members of the far right - Russia. As for Putin, the most right-wing parties on the political spectrum have sometimes refrained from mentioning his name.
“Alexei Navalny has shown that one man saying ‘no’ is enough to scare a regime. You keep alive the hope of a free and democratic Russia. We are going to carry this hope with you”, said Manfred Weber (EPP, German).
For Valérie Hayer (Renew Europe, French), the best way to pay tribute to the Russian political opponent is to “do what he has always expected us to do: strengthen, again and again, our sanctions against Putin and those close to him, to the point of suffocating them”.
The Socialist Group in the European Parliament, joined by the pro-European parties in the Chamber, insisted, through the voice of Pedro Marques (Spanish), on the need for an “international and independent” investigation, so that “all those responsible for the treatment, follow-up and detention of Alexei Navalny are prosecuted”.
“My husband will never see what the beautiful Russia of the future will look like, but we must see it, and I will do my best to make his dream come true, that evil will fall and this beautiful future will come”, concluded Yulia Navalnaya.
Pending measures
During the ensuing debate on the subject, several MEPs also put the question of the EU’s defence on the table. Belgian MEP Guy Verhofstadt (Renew Europe), for his part, questioned the Commission and the Council of the EU on the measures to be taken in response to the death of Mr Navalny and the war in Ukraine, accusing them of providing no solution.
“The subject is ‘what action will the EU take’, how it will react to Navalny’s murder. You come here on behalf of the EU Council, the Commission, to applaud Yulia, but you have absolutely nothing to say about the measures we are going to take (...) I want a real strategy against Russia, I don’t want these nice applauses, ‘bravo Yulia’ and we do nothing”, declared the Flemish MEP.
On his initiative, 82 MEPs, mainly from the Liberal Group, but also from the EPP, S&D, ECR, Greens/EFA and NI Groups, had called on the EU, in a letter dated 20 February to the High Representative of the Union, to adopt new measures against those responsible for the death of Alexei Navalny (see EUROPE 13355/3).
In the letter, MEPs called for new measures to be adopted under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, and for these to be addressed to “all those involved in Alexei’s agony in Putin’s gulag, including prison directors, guards, police officers, prosecutors and judges”. They also suggested that a new package of sanctions against the “backbone of the Putin regime” should be launched immediately, based on the list of over 6,000 people provided by Mr Navalny 2 years ago.
See the resolution on the murder of Alexei Navalny, which will be put to the vote in Parliament on 29 February: https://aeur.eu/f/b2l (Original version in French by Thomas Mangin)