Russia has imposed an entry ban on 89 European politicians and military leaders, according to a list seen by Reuters, a move that has angered Europe and worsened its standoff with the West over Moscow’s role in the Ukraine conflict.
More than 6,200 people have been killed in fighting between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists. Russia dismisses accusations from Ukraine, NATO and Western powers that it is supporting the separatists with arms and its own troops.
The list, which says it was compiled by the Russian Foreign Ministry and handed to a European Union delegation in Moscow this week, includes outspoken critics of Russia as well as security officials.
Since Russia annexed Crimea in March 2014, the EU has imposed economic sanctions, visa bans and asset freezes on scores of Russian and Ukrainian citizens and organisations.
A spokesperson for EU foreign affairs told Reuters that in recent months Russia had denied entry to a number of EU politicians, based on their inclusion on a “confidential ‘stop list’.” “We take note that the Russian authorities have decided to share the list. We don’t have any other information on legal basis, criteria and process,” the spokesperson said.
Asked about the list while on a visit to Ukraine, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said it would hamper peace efforts.
“At a time in which we are trying to defuse a persistent and dangerous conflict, this does not contribute towards that,” Steinmeier said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry was not immediately available for comment.
Blacklisted
Among those on the list is Uwe Corsepius, current secretary general of the European Union council in Brussels who is due to take over as foreign affairs advisor to German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Others blacklisted include Britain’s former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg and former Belgian premier Guy Verhofstadt, who heads the Liberal group in the European parliament.
The list also carries the names of several former and acting ministers, such as Poland’s deputy Justice Minister Robert Kupiecki and former British defence minister Malcolm Rifkind, as well as Swedish tax authority head Eva Lidstrom Adler.
Last Monday, Germany protested to Russia over its refusal to let a conservative German lawmaker Karl-Georg Wellmann, who had called Russia a “warmonger” earlier this year, into the country.
Meanwhile, European politicians who discovered they were on a Russian travel blacklist said yesterday they were proud of being included and would continue speaking out against Russia’s policy towards Ukraine, reports AFP.
“Being on this list does not change my commitment to the people of Ukraine,” said Swedish MEP Anna Maria Corazza Bildt, an outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a tweet.
“I have more to be proud of than to be afraid of!... Putin’s list is a confirmation that I am doing right as a parliamentarian,” the centre-right politician, married to Sweden’s former foreign minister Carl Bildt, added.
She was among eight Swedes which the Nordic country’s foreign ministry confirmed as being part on the list of 89 names banned from entering Russia – mostly European politicians and officials.
Several names have been made public including Guy Verhofstadt, head of the Liberal group in the European Parliament and a former Belgian PM, and Sweden’s former centre-right culture minister Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth.
Former Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg, a staunch critic of Russia’s policy towards Ukraine, also confirmed he was on the list and welcomed it.
“When I saw the other names (on the list), I found out I was in a very decent club. I consider this a reward,” he was quoted as saying by news agency CTK.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte revealed Friday that the list had been handed to EU embassies and that he would let “Moscow know... in no uncertain terms” that the Netherlands rejected it as it was “not based on international law.”
Russian authorities drew up the list in response to the EU’s own sanctions and travel bans over Russia’s annexation of Crimea last year and its alleged involvement in the eastern Ukraine conflict, he said.
