MOSSCOW, August 22. /TASS/. Russia will raise the topic of the European Union’s discriminatory visa restrictions against Russian nationals at international venues, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Geneva office and other Geneva-based international organizations Gennady Gatilov said on Monday.
"The topic [of the EU’s visa restrictions against Russians] deserves the keenest attention. I would say it is not only absurd but also hideous. It is nothing but Russophobia as it is about denying visas on account of ethnicity. This topic is a domain of the United Nations Human Rights Council and we will raise it without fail," he said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 television channel.
He recalled that a regular session of the UN Human Rights Council is to begin in mid-September and it is important to raise this topic to say that such discriminatory measures are "inadmissible in thee present-day world." "Regrettably, our colleague from the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights have not been responding to it so far," he said. "But it is obvious for us that anything that concerns such topics linked with the policy of European countries and Baltic states is being hushed up by UN officials."
He stressed that Russia will continue efforts on the corresponding track jointly with its partners. "Many share our point of view on this matter. Together with them, we will take corresponding efforts in international formats here, in Geneva," he added.