EU will impose sanctions on those responsible “for the murder” of Alexei Navalny

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European Union foreign ministers agreed on Monday to impose sanctions on people and organizations responsible for the death of Russian opponent Alexei Navalny.

The decision by EU diplomacy chiefs was taken a day after Vladimir Putin declared victory in the presidential elections, securing a fifth term as president and another six years in the Kremlin.

Josep Borrell, the head of European diplomacy, announced the decision of the 27 EU member states to sanction “around 30 individuals and entities” who were “responsible for the murder of Alexei Navalny”, without however identifying the people or organizations targeted.

On Sunday, at a press conference after winning the elections, Putin spoke for the first time about Navanlny’s death, guaranteeing that the opponent would be released in a prisoner exchange with the West and that the only condition he had set was to prevent him from to re-enter Russian soil.

The Russian elections were severely criticized by Western leaders, particularly by the head of EU diplomacy, who declared that the election was carried out with “systematic repression” of voters and condemned the fact that Moscow decided to extend the vote for the presidency in the occupied territories. in Ukraine.

“This was not a free and fair election, no observance of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, in a highly restricted environment. This is what I can say diplomatically, but more than that, these elections were based on repression and intimidation , and are being carried out in occupied Ukrainian territory, violating Ukrainian sovereignty”, said Josep Borrell.

Putin was publicly congratulated on his victory only by China, India and North Korea.

Sanctions for those responsible for Navalny’s death should be made official in the coming days and should include freezing assets and banning entry into European territory.