Russia bans entry to 8 EU politicians
Russia has banned entry to eight citizens of the European Union in response to the restrictive measures imposed by the EU Council on March 2 and 22 this year against six Russian citizens, said the Russian Foreign Ministry in a statement.
The list includes:
-Ivars Abolins, Chairman of The National Electronic Mass Media Council ofthe Republic of Latvia on ;
-Maris Baltins, Director of the State Language Centre of the Republic of Latvia;
-Jacques Maie, member of the French delegation at the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly;
- Jorg Raupach, Head of Berlin’s Prosecutor’s Office, Federal Republic of Germany;
David Maria Sassoli, President of the European Parliament;
- Asa Ssott, Head of the laboratory of Chemical, Biological, Radiation and Nuclear Security at the Total Defence Research Institute of the Kingdom of Sweden;
-Ilmar Tomusk, Head of the Language Department of the Republic of Estonia;
-Vera Jourova, Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency.
"The European Union continues its policy of illegitimate unilateral restrictive measures against Russian citizens and organizations. In March 2021 alone, six Russians were subjected to unlawful restrictions. This practice runs counter to the UN Charter and the fundamental norms of international law. They are accompanied by deliberately dispersed in the Western media anti-Russian hysteria which is not supported by evidence. All our proposals to resolve any problematic issues arising between Russia and the EU through direct professional dialogue are consistently ignored or rejected," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"Such actions of the European Union leave no doubt that their true goal is to restrain the development of our country at any cost, to impose its lopsided concept of a rules-based world that undermines international law, to challenge the independence of Russian foreign and domestic policy. This is done openly and intentionally. And, of course, with the knowledge and encouragement of the United States, which does not hide its interest in turning Europe into an arena of acute geopolitical confrontation," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.