MOSCOW, November 17 (Itar-Tass) —— Federation Council Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Mikhail Margelov hopes that the European Parliament will not follow the U.S. suit and will not pass a law similar to the American Magnitsky Act.
“I hope that practical European Union officials will not follow the American suit. The opinion of the European Parliament is not the ultimate power in adopting decisions in Brussels,” he told Itar-Tass on Saturday, November 17.
“Russia and the European Union are interconnected by economic interests too closely and an adoption of legislation similar to the American Magnitsky Act would cause material damage to these interests,” Margelov said.
Speaking of the U.S. House of Representatives’ decision to abolish the Jackson-Vanik amendment and at the same time pass the Magnitsky legislation, Margelov said, “Why build a bridge, if it’s the same on the other bank?”
“Following Russia’s accession to the WTO, the Jackson-Vanik amendment turned into a nuisance for economic reasons,” he added.
As for the Magnitsky Act, “the document is certainly of a challenging and demonstrative nature. The relevant American authorities are free to deny entry visas to anyone as it is, without this law; and it seems even without spending time to explain the reasons to ‘refuseniks’,” Margelov said.
“Therefore the ‘Magnitsky list’ has no practically value for the visa regime: it neither tightens nor simplifies it, but it is unfriendly with regard to Russia,” he said.
“Such laws are passed by parliamentarians who suffer from too much self-esteem with respect to human rights in their own country,” the senator added.
Margelov also reiterated that “Russia will respond accordingly”.