The European Parliament today adopted a resolution stating that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been murdered and that the Russian authorities and President Vladimir Putin personally bear responsibility for his murder. The resolution also states that the best response to the Kremlin is to support Ukraine. UNN reports this with reference to the website of the European Parliament.
Details
The resolution was supported by 506 MEPs, nine voted against, and 32 abstained.
The main points of the European Parliament's resolution:
- The European Parliament strongly condemns the murder of Alexei Navalny. The full criminal and political responsibility for his death lies with the Russian state, in particular with its President Vladimir Putin, who must be brought to justice;
- Navalny's murder is another sign of intensified and systematic repression in Russia;
- MEPs demand independent and transparent international investigation into the murder of opposition leader;
- Russia's political system is controlled by a consolidated authoritarian regime with rampant corruption that uses rigged elections as a semblance of democracy and concentrates all power in Putin's hands;
- MEPs call on EU member states to step up their efforts to find possible ways to release those who have been imprisoned and repressed, especially sick or tortured political prisoners, including the option of a possible prisoner exchange.
- Supporting Ukraine is the best answer to the Kremlin.
According to the resolution, since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Russian authorities have stepped up repression of the opposition in the country.
MEPs call on the EU and its like-minded countries around the world to continue their political, economic, financial and military support for Ukraine as the best response to the Kremlin regime's current repressive and aggressive practices.
A decisive victory for Ukraine could lead to real changes in the Russian Federation, including de-imperialization, decolonization and refederalization, which are necessary conditions for the establishment of democracy in Russia
MEPs call on the European Commission and, in particular, the European External Action Service to develop a proactive, long-term strategic policy towards Russia that would effectively respond to the reality of today's EU-Russia relations, the human rights situation in Russia and the need to support Russian civil society and opposition members in exile.