Russia, European Union row over visa bans rages
European Parliament President Martin Schulz gives a press conference at the European Parliament in Brussels. Russia has slammed Brussels’ decision to limit access to the European parliament to just two Russian envoys as a “witch hunt”. PHOTO | AFP
What you need to know:
- The move came in retaliation for a travel ban imposed by Moscow on 89 Europeans over the Ukraine crisis which Russia bills as its answer to EU sanctions.
- The head of the European parliament’s office said the Russian ambassador had been informed that “the Russian authorities have failed to ensure transparency in their decisions.”
- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier this week ridiculed the “absurdity” of EU complaints, insisting that Russia’s response merely followed Western sanctions against the Kremlin.
MOSCOW
Moscow Wednesday slammed Brussels’ decision to limit access to the European parliament to just two Russian envoys as a “witch hunt”, with officials urging retaliatory steps.
Amid a fresh spike in tensions between Moscow and Brussels, European parliament head Martin Schulz on Tuesday said he was limiting access to the institution to the Russian ambassador to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, and one other diplomat.
The move came in retaliation for a travel ban imposed by Moscow on 89 Europeans over the Ukraine crisis which Russia bills as its answer to EU sanctions.
“The witch hunt against Russians has begun,” said the tough-talking foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
“One is under the impression that the European bureaucracy is at times returning to the era of the Inquisition,” Zakharova wrote on Facebook in Russian.
“What’s next? Ecclesiastical trials of Russian diplomats followed by burning at the stake in Brussels?” she said, demanding an explanation from officials in Brussels.
The head of the upper house of Russian parliament’s foreign affairs committee, Konstantin Kosachev, for his part urged Moscow officials to respond to the slight from Brussels with new retaliatory measures.
“Symmetrical or asymmetrical, they should come for sure,” Kosachev wrote on Facebook.
He accused the EU of double standards, saying Brussels had seemingly failed to understand that Russia had put together the blacklist merely in response to Western sanctions over Ukraine.
“Gods may do what cattle may not,” he added with irony.
The head of the European parliament’s office said the Russian ambassador had been informed that “the Russian authorities have failed to ensure transparency in their decisions.”
In addition, Brussels would now assess requests for access to the European parliament by Russian lawmakers on a case-by-case basis.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier this week ridiculed the “absurdity” of EU complaints, insisting that Russia’s response merely followed Western sanctions against the Kremlin.
