Russia “blacklists” 89 EU politicians

Russia has released a list of 89 EU politicians that are no longer allowed to travel into Russia. With this blacklist, Russia responds to the sanctions imposed against Russia by the EU over the Russian annexation of the Crimea and Russia’s alleged involvement in the Ukrainian conflict.

Although the Kremlin has not published the list and has not informed the individuals themselves, it was released to several EU embassies. The list includes European politicians such as Mr. Guy Verhofstadt, head of the liberal group of the European Parliament and former prime minister of Belgium, at least one other Belgian MEP, three Dutch politicians, two of which are members of Dutch Parliament and one is MEP, Finnish Green Party MEP Heidi Hautala and German MP Karl-Georg Wellmann, who already suffered the consequences. Last week, Mr. Wellmann, who has strong links to Ukraine, was invited to take part in political discussions in Moscou, but he was turned back on a plane from Moscow airport to Berlin for the reason that the entry ban applies to him until 2019.

It seems that the sanctions imposed by Russia are not in compliance with international law, because the individuals were not informed and there seems to be no possibility to appeal the sanctions. Any further political consequences of these travel bans will be interesting to follow. B&A Law will of course keep you updated.

The full list of blacklisted politicians can be found here: http://www.yle.fi/tvuutiset/uutiset/upics/liitetiedostot/RUS_Einreiseverbotsliste.pdf

 

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