Russia Bars Eight EU Officials From Entry In Tit-For-Tat Move

Russia’s foreign ministry says it has barred eight European officials from entering the country in retaliation to EU sanctions against Russian security officials over the jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

The Russian foreign ministry said those banned included Vera Jourova, vice president for values and transparency at the executive European Commission, and David Sassoli, the president of the European parliament.

Moscow said it was responding to sanctions imposed by the European Council last month against four top Russian security officials over the jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny and a violent police response to protests in his support.

In a statement, the Ministry accused the European Union of unilateral illegitimate restrictive measures targeting Russian citizens and organisations.

It added that such actions by the European Union leave no doubt that their true goal is to restrain the development of the country at any cost.

The list of European officials barred from Russia include officials from France and Germany, as well as Baltic states Estonia and Latvia.

One of Latvian officials, Ivars Abolins, in February supported his country’s decision to drop several Russian television channels.

Another official on the list, Asa Scott of the Swedish Defence Research Agency, helped confirm last year that Navalny was poisoned by the Soviet-era Novichok nerve toxin in August.

The EU and the US have imposed a series of sanctions on Russia over the poisoning and jailing of the critic.