Alexei Navalny urges EU to sanction Russian oligarchs in Europe
- 3 years ago
In European Parliament hearing, survivor of chemical attack denounces Putin’s ‘kleptocracy.’ https://www.eudebates.tv/ #eudebates #Russia #Navalny #Germany EU politicians who say they want to get tough on Russian President Vladimir Putin should stop coddling Kremlin-connected oligarchs and welcoming their wealth, Alexei Navalny and three other leading Russian opposition figures told the European Parliament on Friday.
Alexei Navalny calls for EU sanctions on Russian oligarchs
Navalny, who survived an assassination attempt with a chemical weapon in August and received treatment at a German hospital, told a hearing of the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee that the EU should sanction individual oligarchs as cronies of a criminal state.
Navalny said it was a mistake to penalize mid-ranking officials even if they were directly responsible for human rights abuses because they do not travel or keep assets abroad.
“The main question we should ask ourselves is why these people are poisoning, killing and fabricating elections,” Navalny said. “And the answer is very very simple: money. So European Union should target the money and Russian oligarchs.”
Navalny accused European politicians of hypocrisy by allowing oligarchs who grew rich off of Putin’s authoritarian rule, such as Alisher Usmanov and Roman Abramovich — billionaires who own stakes in U.K. football clubs — to keep luxury boats in European ports.
“Let me say it very straight [as long as] the most expensive yacht of Mr. Usmanov is standing in Barcelona or in Monaco, no one in Russia or in the Kremlin even — they will not treat European sanctions seriously,” Navalny said. “They just think that they are playing the European Union.”
“Just tell Mr. Usmanov, Mr. Abramovich, Mr. Rotenberg, etc. etc.: ‘Guys you are acting against the Russian people, you are acting against Europe, you are all of the time advocating that Europe is something very bad, so please take your yachts and get them somewhere to the nice harbors of the Belarusian Republic,’” Navalny said. “This approach will be very effective and very welcome from the Russian people.” (Arkady and Boris Rotenberg, brothers and two of Russia’s richest men, are considered close friends of Putin.)
Navalny appeared before the Parliament via videoconference along with Vladimir Kara-Murza, who twice was the victim of mysterious poisoning incidents; Vladimir Milov, a former deputy Russian energy minister who has been living in exile; and Ilya Yashin, an opposition activist still in Russia, who like Navalny has faced repeated arrests.
Navalny called on the EU to develop a new approach toward Moscow. “The basis of a new approach should be very clear dividing two things: Russian people who must be welcomed and treated very warmly from European Union from my perspective and Russian state which must be treated like a bunch of criminals,” he said.
The hearing was chaired by Urmas Paet, an Estonian MEP from the liberal group, who noted Russia’s rol
Alexei Navalny calls for EU sanctions on Russian oligarchs
Navalny, who survived an assassination attempt with a chemical weapon in August and received treatment at a German hospital, told a hearing of the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee that the EU should sanction individual oligarchs as cronies of a criminal state.
Navalny said it was a mistake to penalize mid-ranking officials even if they were directly responsible for human rights abuses because they do not travel or keep assets abroad.
“The main question we should ask ourselves is why these people are poisoning, killing and fabricating elections,” Navalny said. “And the answer is very very simple: money. So European Union should target the money and Russian oligarchs.”
Navalny accused European politicians of hypocrisy by allowing oligarchs who grew rich off of Putin’s authoritarian rule, such as Alisher Usmanov and Roman Abramovich — billionaires who own stakes in U.K. football clubs — to keep luxury boats in European ports.
“Let me say it very straight [as long as] the most expensive yacht of Mr. Usmanov is standing in Barcelona or in Monaco, no one in Russia or in the Kremlin even — they will not treat European sanctions seriously,” Navalny said. “They just think that they are playing the European Union.”
“Just tell Mr. Usmanov, Mr. Abramovich, Mr. Rotenberg, etc. etc.: ‘Guys you are acting against the Russian people, you are acting against Europe, you are all of the time advocating that Europe is something very bad, so please take your yachts and get them somewhere to the nice harbors of the Belarusian Republic,’” Navalny said. “This approach will be very effective and very welcome from the Russian people.” (Arkady and Boris Rotenberg, brothers and two of Russia’s richest men, are considered close friends of Putin.)
Navalny appeared before the Parliament via videoconference along with Vladimir Kara-Murza, who twice was the victim of mysterious poisoning incidents; Vladimir Milov, a former deputy Russian energy minister who has been living in exile; and Ilya Yashin, an opposition activist still in Russia, who like Navalny has faced repeated arrests.
Navalny called on the EU to develop a new approach toward Moscow. “The basis of a new approach should be very clear dividing two things: Russian people who must be welcomed and treated very warmly from European Union from my perspective and Russian state which must be treated like a bunch of criminals,” he said.
The hearing was chaired by Urmas Paet, an Estonian MEP from the liberal group, who noted Russia’s rol