A number of members of the European Parliament sharply criticized the ban on entry to Russia for dozens of European politicians, officials and the military. Elmar Brok, Chairman of the EP Committee for Foreign Affairs, has called the Russian sanctions list ‘unacceptable arbitrariness’, stressing that none of the persons listed have never done anything unlawful.
“Here is an overwhelming contrast to the EU list of sanctions against Russian politicians,” said Brock in an interview with the German newspaper Passauer Neue Presse. He stated that Moscow’s actions is ‘a show for its own people’, which is based on the principle ‘tit for tat’. Brok stressed that, only a few have to do with Russia and the settlement of the crisis in Ukraine among those on the list, which makes further negotiations possible, dw.de reports.
Rebecca Harms, chairman of The Greens faction in the EP also named Russia’s sanctions list of Russian ‘high-handedness’. “I tried to understand this list, but in vain,” she told Neue Presse. Harms, who is also put on the list, has been denied entry to the Russian Federation since the fall of 2014.
The Kremlin confirmed onMay 30 that a list of persons banned from entering Russia was sent to a number of EU countries.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia said that Moscow would not unveil the names of blacklisted European politicians.
According to Finnish TV channel Yle Uutiset, the list includes 89 persons, including Bogdan Borusewicz, Speaker in the Polish Senate; Jerzy Buzek, a former Polish PM and ex-President of the European Parliament; former MEP Marek Migalski, Andrus Kubilius, a member of the Lithuanian Parliament, Vytautas Landsbergis, a former Speaker in the Lithuanian Seimas; Karl Müllner, Head of German Air Forces.
