The sanctions imposed by Russia will not silence the European Parliament. Such a statement on Friday, April 30, was made by the Speaker of the European Parliament David Sassoli.
“No sanctions or threats will force the European Parliament and me to stop defending human rights, freedom and democracy. Threats will not silence us, ”wrote on his Twitter page.
Russia’s retaliatory sanctions were also assessed by Jacques Maire, Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), who said that the decision to include him in the sanctions list would not affect his work.
“This decision does not change my mandate and will not have an impact on the investigation that I am conducting to draw up my reports based on facts and the rule of law,” he told TASS.
Earlier on Friday, the Russian Foreign Ministry blacklisted Sassoli and Jacques, as well as 6 other EU citizens. This was a response to the previously imposed anti-Russian sanctions. The Foreign Ministry explained that the European Union continues to impose illegitimate restrictions against Moscow unilaterally. As emphasized in the department, in March 2021 alone, six Russian citizens were subjected to unlawful sanctions.
Such measures contradict the UN Charter and the norms of international law, the diplomatic service said. In addition, the sanctions are accompanied by “anti-Russian hysteria deliberately dispersed in the Western media,” and Moscow’s proposals to improve relations are ignored or rejected.
It was also reported that the head of the European Union Delegation in Moscow was handed a note on Russia’s retaliatory measures in connection with the anti-Russian sanctions of the EU Council. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Russia reserves the right to continue to react to any unfriendly actions of the EU of this kind.
On March 22, the EU imposed sanctions against 11 individuals and four organizations from different countries, including Russia, for “human rights violations and abuse.” Two citizens of the Russian Federation were on the sanctions list. They are banned from entering the countries of the community, and their bank accounts, if discovered, will be frozen there.
At the beginning, the European Union, for the first time, within the framework of the new mechanism, introduced sanctions in connection with the situation with blogger Alexei Navalny. On February 2, the Simonovsky court of the capital ruled to cancel his suspended sentence in the Yves Rocher case and replace him with 3.5 years in a general regime colony. The decision was made due to Navalny’s repeated violations of the probationary period.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that Moscow would respond to the EU’s anti-Russian sanctions.