The FINANCIAL — The EU has described as not credible the reasons given for refusing entry into Russia to MEP Sandra Kalniete to attend the funeral of Boris Nemtsov, murdered on 27 February. Similar bans have also affected representatives of EU Member States, according to EU Neighbourhood Info Centre.
A statement said the reason given to Ms Kalniete implied she represented a security threat: “This would not appear to be a credible explanation of the refusal and is not in keeping with the spirit of the Visa Facilitation Agreement between the EU and Russia.”
It said while the EU was committed to finding a way towards de-escalation, “such signals from Russia add new tensions in already difficult times, with the emergence of a trend whereby EU representatives are selectively banned from entering Russia for apparently arbitrary reasons.”
President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz described the incident as “a high affront to the EU-Russia relations and the work of democratic institutions”.
Discussion about this post