“In response to the European Union’s actions, the Russian side has decided to expand the list of responses with representatives of EU member states and institutions that have been banned from entering Russia,” said Maria Zakharov, a spokeswoman for the ministry.
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According to her, “the number of figures on the Russian list has been increased to parity with the existing European Union list. The specified restrictions have been introduced in accordance with the Federal Law of 15 August 1996 on entering and leaving Russia”.
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Zakharov stated that “the European Union has recently taken a series of unfriendly steps towards our country and Russian citizens.”
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She did not cover the names of people who would be blacklisted in Russia.
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The European Parliament last week strongly condemned the leader of the Russian opposition Alexei Navalny attempted murder in Russia and expressed concern at the recent use of neuroparasitic chemicals against Russian citizens.
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MEPs also called on the EU member states to take a proactive stance on the issue, drawing up a list of ambitious restrictive measures against Russia as soon as possible and also to strengthen existing sanctions against Russia.
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Parliament called for sanction mechanisms to collect and freeze the European assets of corrupt individuals, in line with the findings of the Navalny Anti-Corruption Fund.
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