BRUSSELS, May 27. /TASS/. The new restrictions imposed by the European Union are indefinite, and in fact, come as an attempt by Brussels to punish Russia for its independent foreign policy, Acting Russian Permanent Representative to the EU Kirill Logvinov said in a commentary to Russian journalists.
"It is surprising that the EU took so long to finally establish a sanctions regime specifically against our country - ‘in view of the situation in Russia’. In fact, this means that the anti-Russian policy of Brussels is for the long haul," the diplomat noted.
"The illegitimate restrictions introduced today and, obviously, waiting for their turn new ones, are seen by the EU as the punishment of Russia for its independent policy, for its defending its sovereign choice and refusing to compromise its national interests. The very name of the regime [of restrictions] is seen by the EU as a formal basis for blacklisting any Russian and any legal entity that does not fit within Western ideas about Russia and its future," he said.
"Alas, the West does not realize that no matter how hard it tries, no restrictions can impose on our country a model of development that is at odds with its own priorities," Logvinov summed up.
The European Union on Monday imposed sanctions on Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service and on 19 investigators, prosecutors and judges involved in the cases of Alexey Navalny, Memorial co-chairman Oleg Orlov, artist Sasha Skolichenko and other prisoners.
The sanctions apply to, among others, Moscow City Court judge Tatiana Dodonova, Federal Penitentiary Service’s inspection chief Alexander Yermolenko, prosecutor Alexander Gladyshev, Russian Investigative Committee’s investigator Ilya Savchenko, Moscow Golovivsky district court judge Elena Astakhova and Supreme Court judge Nikolay Dubovik.
These people are banned from entering the European Union and their assets in the European Union, should they have any, will be frozen.
A characteristic difference of the current regime of restrictions is its name - it is presented as restrictions of a general nature, related simply to ‘the situation in Russia’. Previous sanctions mechanisms were always aimed at a specific problem in Brussels' view. For example, sanctions were imposed as a response to Crimea's reunification with Russia or over allegedly undermining Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.