The European Union has introduced new sanctions against a number of high-ranking Russian officials in connection with the situation around Alexei Navalny (founder of the Anti-Corruption Fund, included by the Ministry of Justice in the register of organizations performing the functions of a foreign agent) . This was announced on Tuesday, March 2, by the DPA agency on its Twitter account.
As specified, the restrictions were introduced against a number of officials from Russia.
On March 1, the ambassadors of the 27 EU member states agreed on sanctions over the Navalny case: it was reported that they would affect persons associated with his conviction. On February 22, the Council of the European Union decided to impose sanctions against Russian citizens related to the conviction of Navalny. After that, the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said that Brussels would prepare new sanctions against Moscow within a week.
Russia responded by promising to respond to EU sanctions. According to Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko, they are “illegal and dead-end way” of interaction with Moscow. He stressed that there will be a reaction, but did not specify which one.
In early February, the Simonovsky Court of Moscow replaced Navalny's suspended sentence with a real one for violating the conditions for observing the probationary period in the Yves Rocher case. The UFSIN asked to appoint him a sentence of imprisonment in a colony for a period of 3.5 years. Navalny was charged with 60 violations of public order after a suspended sentence and given him 2 years and 8 months in prison, taking into account the year spent under house arrest during the preliminary investigation in the Yves Rocher case. Later, his sentence was reduced; he will spend 2 years and 6 months in the colony.
