MOSCOW, March 19. /TASS/. Russia has taken the decision to expand the list of nationals of the European Union countries banned from entering Russia in retaliation for action taken by Brussels, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing on Thursday.
"The Russian side has taken a decision to expand the retaliatory list. Regretfully we have to do this," Zakharova said, adding that this is "a matter of parity."
She reiterated that in January sanctions were slapped on seven more Russian nationals — representatives of state bodies and the election commission of Crimea and Sevastopol.
"We consider it as an unfriendly move to maintain and further expand such blacklists, which without the slightest grounds restricts our fellow countrymen in their legitimate rights," the diplomat added. "Of course, we will retaliate proportionally," she stressed.
Late in January, the European Union officially announced its decision to blacklist seven Crimean politicians — Acting Governor of Sevastopol Mikhail Razvozhayev, Crimea’s Chairman of the Council of Ministers Yuri Gotsanyuk, Chairman of the Legislative Assembly of Sevastopol Vladimir Nemtsev, Russia’s Federation Council (upper house) member for Sevastopol, Yekaterina Altabayeva and three heads of electoral commissions of Crimea and Sevastopol.
In 2014, the European Union slapped sanctions against Russia relating to the events in Ukraine and Crimea’s reunification, which it continues to expand and prolong. The talks on the visa-free regime and the new basic agreement on cooperation were suspended, a number of Russian officials were prohibited from entering EU countries, with their assets being frozen, and restrictive trade, financial and military measures were adopted.
The EU blacklist in response to the crisis in Ukraine contains 175 people, including Russian and Ukrainian nationals, and 44 legal entities. Almost all legal entities on the list are authoritative bodies and state and military institutions of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics.
On March 13, the EU prolonged individual sanctions against Russian citizens for another six months.
Statements on Crimea
Moscow views EU top diplomat Josep Borrell’s statement on Crimea as unfriendly, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman stated.
"We consider the European Union’s comments to be unfriendly," she pointed out. "We believe that it is unacceptable to question Russia’s territorial integrity within its current borders," Zakharova added.
According to her, Brussels is repeating Kiev’s allegations about the worsening human rights situation and environmental issues in Crimea. "It is ridiculous to accuse our country of demographic replacement and allege that Russians are deliberately being moved to Crimea from other regions of the country," she stressed.
The Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said, citing official statistics, that about 10,000 people from former Soviet countries had moved to live in Crimea in 2019, and 80% of them had come from Ukraine.
Zakharova emphasized that Borrell’s call on the United Nations member states to join the European Union's sanctions, which were in fact aimed at worsening the living conditions in Crimea, was particularly outrageous amid the international community’s efforts to combat the coronavirus. "We urge the EU to finally hear the voice of Crimea’s people. It is time to recognize the democratic choice they made and take note of the positive changes that have taken place on the peninsula after its reunification with Russia," the diplomat pointed out.