Top Russian official refused entry to Italy
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy refused to allow the First Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council’s International Affairs Committee, Vladimir Dzhabarov, to be present at the elections as an observer as part of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, as he stated to RIA Novosti.
“The Italians have not responded to the request for my participation as an observer within the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly for a long time, as a result, I was refused,” Dzhabarov said.
He assumed that such a step is the result of the European Union’s pressure and promise that Russia would take countermeasures against Italian Parliamentarians.
On March 4th, in Italy, the elections to both Chambers of the Parliament will be over. This campaign was marked by the return of the former Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, to national politics. According to surveys, the center-right alliance led by Silvio Berlusconi’s ‘Go Italy’ party is leading. The populist ‘Five Star’ movement took second place, and the center-left coalition led by the ruling Democratic party took third place.
The US Department of the Treasury placed Dzhabarov on sanction list as early as March 20, 2014 for his involvement in the conflict in Ukraine. On March 1, 2014, Dzhabarov supported the Putin’s appeal regarding the use of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine.