Putin critic Navalny calls on EU to take strong action against 'profiteers' of Kremlin

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny urged European Union to take strong action against oligarchs close to Russian government as he continues to recover from poisoning. German government said on October 6 that it is discussing actions to be taken against Russia after global chemical weapons watchdog confirmed use of undeclared variant in vichok family to poison Putin’s critic.

Speaking to German daily Bild, Navalny said that sanctions against whole country won’t work as long as people close to Kremin continue to embezzle money and buy expensive apartments in European cities. 44-year-old anti-corruption campaigner told German daily that entry ban and asset freeze of profiteers of regime is required for a tangible outcome.

Last week, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas reportedly said that re is way around sanctions against Russia if involvement of Kremlin behind poisoning of Russian opposition leer Alexei Navalny gets established.  In an interview to German news portal t-online, Maas was asked what measures would Germany take if Russian authorities get implicated in poison attack.

"We as EU member states will decide that toger. I am convinced that re will be way around sanctions," he said.

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German health authorities h confirmed poisoning of Navalny with a nerve nt from vichok group, citing toxicological test results. Later, specialist laboratories in France and Sweden also confirmed poisoning with Soviet-style nerve nt vichok. Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) also issued its report after Germany’s request for technical assistance.

Options available

Germany and EU have options to freeze asset and impose travel bans on people deemed to be involved in poison attack. In past, Germany has denied ruling out consequences for Russia’s rd Stream 2 gas pipeline project if Kremlin fails to thoroughly probe poisoning of Navalny. Russian pipeline is expected to start soon to increase its supply to European countries which will bolster Russia’s position strategically.

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