The EU protested to the Permanent Representative of Russia in connection with the introduction of sanctions against EU citizens

The European Union protested to the Permanent Representative of Russia in connection with the introduction of sanctions against EU citizens and restrictions against unfriendly countries on Russian territory, expressing concern about the consequences of these actions for bilateral relations.

This is stated in a statement released on Monday by the EU’s foreign policy service following a conversation with Russia’s Permanent Representative to the EU Vladimir Chizhov.

“The Secretary General of the European Commission Ilze Juhansson and the Secretary General of the European External Action Service Stefano Sannino jointly invited the Ambassador [Permanent Representative] of the Russian Federation to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov on Monday to protest against the Russian authorities’ decision on Friday to ban entry into the Russian Federation. for eight EU citizens, “the document says.

“Ambassador Chizhov was informed of the complete rejection and condemnation of the EU countries and institutions of the decision to impose sanctions,” the statement said. The EU “also recalled Russia’s expulsion of Czech diplomats and Russia’s taking action against so-called unfriendly states, expressing serious concern about the cumulative effect of these actions on bilateral relations.” The secretaries general of the European Commission and the European External Action Service also stressed that the EU “reserves the right to new retaliatory actions.”

On April 30, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation published a statement including a list of citizens of the EU countries who were restricted from entering the territory of Russia. This list of eight people includes, in particular, the President of the European Parliament David Sassoli, the European Commissioner for Values ​​and Transparency Vera Yurova, the head of the Berlin Prosecutor’s Office Jörg Raupach, the head of the Laboratory for Chemical, Biological, Radiation and Nuclear Safety of the Research Institute for Total Defense of Sweden, Osa Scott.

This decision of Moscow was a response to the restrictive measures imposed on March 2 and 22 by the EU Council against six Russian citizens.

TASS, TKS.RU