David Sassoli says banning him from entering Russia “is not a personal attack, but concerns the head of parliament to punish the whole body”
TASS reports that in an interview published in La Stampa newspaper on Monday, European Parliament (EP) Speaker David Sassoli expressed hope that the Russian sanctions imposed on him will be lifted and he will be able to visit Moscow in the foreseeable future. According to Sassoli, banning him from entering Russia “is not a personal attack, but concerns the head of parliament to punish the whole body”.
“We believe in dialogue, the power of diplomacy, multipolarity, trade, we do not move troops and we are not aggressive”, – Sassoli said when asked if he thought a Russia-EU summit was possible in the foreseeable future. – “I hope that this measure will be lifted quickly and I can go to Moscow to discuss human rights and political freedoms. I think the people of this great country are waiting for and deserve it.”
We shall remind you that on 30 April, the Russian Foreign Ministry published a statement which included a list of citizens of EU member states who have been restricted from entering the territory of Russia. Apart from Sassoli, the list of eight people included, among others, head of the Berlin prosecutor’s office Jörg Raupach, head of the Chemical, Biological, Radiation and Nuclear Safety Laboratory of the Total Defence Research Institute of Sweden Osa Scott and European Commissioner for Transparency Vera Yurova.