Russia announced on Friday April 30 sanctions against eight European officials, including the President of the European Parliament, in retaliation for those put in place by the EU in March amid renewed tensions between Moscow and the West.
“The European Union pursues its policy of unilateral illegitimate restrictive measures targeting Russian citizens and organizations”Russian diplomacy said in a statement, specifying that eight European officials, including the President of the European Parliament David Maria Sassoli, were banned from entering Russia.
According to the press release, Russia is responding in particular to the sanctions imposed by the EU on March 2 and 22 on senior Russian officials, acts aimed in Moscow’s eyes at “Launch an open challenge to the independence of Russian internal and foreign policy”.
On March 2, the European Union announced its decision to impose restrictive measures against four Russians responsible according to the EU for serious human rights violations, including arbitrary arrests and detentions, as well as massive and systematic repression of freedom of peaceful assembly in Russia.
These measures included the ban on entry into EU territory and the freezing of the assets of these senior officials, including the head of the Russian Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin and Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov.
On March 22, the Council of the EU decided to introduce restrictive measures against those responsible for serious human rights violations in various countries of the world, in particular for torture and repression against LGBT people and opponents. policies in Chechnya, republic of the Russian Caucasus.