Ahead of the meeting of EU foreign ministers that Navalny’s wife would attend, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Monday that Germany will suggest more penalties on Moscow in response to the passing of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was imprisoned.
Since Moscow invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the ministers were already scheduled to address the 13th round of sanctions on Russia by the bloc.
Hungary is the only member of the EU that has not yet approved the planned bans on around 200 businesses and individuals. Budapest remained silent after Navalny’s passing on Friday.
The senior EU ambassador proposed blacklisting Russian jail authorities he said were connected to Navalny’s demise. There was no immediate announcement on any other punitive steps that might be taken against Russia’s economy as a whole.
Navalnaya to Continue Husband’s Fight for Russia
Separately on Monday, Yulia Navalnaya declared that she would carry on her late husband’s struggle for a free Russia and urged followers to take on President Vladimir Putin with even more fervor.
Baerbock expressed her hope that the 27-member EU will quickly decide on further measures against Russia. If Budapest gets the go-ahead, EU officials suggest they might be tentatively authorized on Wednesday.
“We have seen the brutal force with which the Russian president represses his citizens who take to the streets to demonstrate for freedom or write about it in newspapers,” she continued. “We will suggest more punishments in light of Alexei Navalny’s passing.
A week before the second anniversary of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Navalny passed away in an Arctic jail. Foreign policy leader Josep Borrell declared, “(EU) member states will propose sanctions for sure against those responsible,” as the chairman of the ministerial meeting on Monday. “The great responsible (person) is Putin himself.”
He stated, “We can go down the institutional structure of the penitentiary system in Russia,” naming the individuals the bloc would include on its list of targets for asset freezes and travel restrictions. “But don’t forget who is responsible for Navalny’s death.”
Developments Surrounding Navalny’s Tragic Passing
The 47-year-old former attorney Navalny gained notoriety for his anti-corruption campaigns in Putin’s Russia. He was well-known for his vehement statements at public demonstrations and in court, his outspoken participation on social media, and his team’s thorough video examinations of official corruption.
According to Russian police, he fainted on a stroll at the “Polar Wolf” penal colony, where he was serving a three-decade term for years of persecution, which included nerve agent poisoning in Siberia in 2020.
Hungary has not yet endorsed fresh measures on Moscow that were suggested before to Navalny’s passing.
The assets of around 200 businesses and people, some of whom are not even from Russia, who were thought to be participating in the conflict or evading trade restrictions would be frozen.
Ministers are also expected to talk about military assistance to Ukraine at a time when the US is finding it difficult to get a consensus on more funding for Kyiv and when Russia has declared its largest military triumph in recent months.
“We will be the next to fall if Ukraine does. According to Gabrielius Landsbergis, the foreign minister of Lithuania, “Putin has no intention of stopping, he wouldn’t be able to stop.”
A growing number of people in Europe are also concerned about the potential return to power of Donald Trump, the former US president who has disregarded NATO.
