Сondemnation of the recent sanctions imposed by the Russian Federation

Written declaration No. 723 | Doc. 15286 | 01 July 2021

Signatories:

Ms Mariia MEZENTSEVA, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Jason AZZOPARDI, Malta, EPP/CD ; Mr Viorel-Riceard BADEA, Romania, EPP/CD ; Ms Larysa BILOZIR, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Irakli CHIKOVANI, Georgia, SOC ; Mr Andi-Lucian CRISTEA, Romania, SOC ; Ms Marija GOLUBEVA, Latvia ; Mr Oleksii GONCHARENKO, Ukraine, EC/DA ; Mr Marcin GWÓŹDŹ, Poland, EC/DA ; Ms Maria JUFEREVA-SKURATOVSKI, Estonia, ALDE ; Mr Artuss KAIMIŅŠ, Latvia, NR ; Mr Serhii KALCHENKO, Ukraine, EC/DA ; Mr Yuriy KAMELCHUK, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Ms Olena KHOMENKO, Ukraine, EC/DA ; Ms Yevheniia KRAVCHUK, Ukraine, ALDE ; Mr Eerik-Niiles KROSS, Estonia, ALDE ; Mr Kakhaber KUTCHAVA, Georgia ; Ms Mariam KVRIVISHVILI, Georgia ; Mr Tomasz LATOS, Poland, EC/DA ; Ms Inese LĪBIŅA-EGNERE, Latvia, EPP/CD ; Ms Alexandra LOUIS, France, ALDE ; Mr Arminas LYDEKA, Lithuania, ALDE ; Mr Oleksandr MEREZHKO, Ukraine, SOC ; Mr Givi MIKANADZE, Georgia, SOC ; Mr Arkadiusz MULARCZYK, Poland, EC/DA ; Mr Cristian-Augustin NICULESCU-ȚÂGÂRLAȘ, Romania, EPP/CD ; Mr Serhii SOBOLIEV, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Ms Diana STOICA, Romania, ALDE ; Mr Ionuț-Marian STROE, Romania, EPP/CD ; Ms Tamar TALIASHVILI, Georgia, SOC ; Mr Raivo TAMM, Estonia, EPP/CD ; Ms Vilja TOOMAST, Estonia, ALDE ; Mr Kim VALENTIN, Denmark, ALDE ; Mr Sergiy VLASENKO, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Markus WIECHEL, Sweden, EC/DA ; Mr Emanuelis ZINGERIS, Lithuania, EPP/CD

This written declaration does not reflect the position of the Assembly; only of those members that have signed it. It will not be considered further by the Assembly.

We, the undersigned, declare the following:

We resolutely condemn the Russian Federation’s decision to sanction our colleague Jacques Maire.

The imposed sanctions were nothing more than a spiteful response to the work done by Mr Maire as rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly on the poisoning of Alexei Navalny, as well as to recent Assembly decisions in this case.

The Russian Federation deliberately and actively rejects any dialogue concerning the proper implementation of its statutory obligations towards the Council of Europe and the improvement of the human rights of the Russian people.

The Kremlin’s decision targets the Assembly as a whole and contravenes the principles, values and spirit of membership of the Assembly.

Sanctions are yet further evidence that the Russian Federation has no interest in working together to return this nation to respect for basic principles of law and democratic standards. The behaviour of Mr Putin and the Russian authorities is aimed to undermine the Assembly's core mandate to protect and promote the rule of law and respect for human rights.

We call upon the Assembly to properly assess without delay this unlawful and groundless decision taken by the Russian Federation.