site.btaEuropean Parliament Hosts Second Meeting with Russian Opposition Representatives

The European Parliament in Brussels is hosting on Tuesday a second meeting with representatives of the Russian opposition. The meeting is taking place under heightened security measures, and the main discussions are held behind closed doors. The organizers have not released a full list of participants, among whom was seen Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

During the public part of the meeting, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation, Mariana Katzarova, said that the Russian authorities have designated more than 1,200 individuals and organizations as "foreign agents," while over 350 organizations have been classified as "undesirable." She noted that Russian authorities frequently use torture against detainees and that involuntary placement in psychiatric institutions is used as a form of punishment. Katzarova also recalled the assessment of five European governments, which confirmed that poisoning was the cause of Navalny's death in a penal colony.

"No one has been held accountable for Navalny's killing," Katzarova said, adding that justice cannot be expected in Russia. According to her, three of Navalny's lawyers are currently imprisoned because they represented him.

Katzarova called for funding to be allocated in the EU's next multiannual budget to support civil society in Russia and Belarus, as well as independent media in those countries. She also urged the introduction of EU-wide exemptions to visa restrictions for Russian citizens, so that the measures can be applied flexibly to representatives of Russian civil society and the opposition.

The European Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, said that Russian President Vladimir Putin made the decision himself to start the war against Ukraine.

"I am convinced that change will come, and when it does, people from civil society will be needed to help shape Russia's future," Kos added.

"I hope that one day we will see a peaceful and democratic Russia that respects its neighbors, protects its citizens, and is capable of coming to terms with its past," she said.

European Commissioner for Defence Andrius Kubilius said that Russia will face serious long-term consequences if the war in Ukraine continues. He urged the West not to seek a return to normal relations with Vladimir Putin.

"The Russian people and the country's elites must decide whether to continue down the path of decline. I still believe that Russia can use the crisis it created itself as an opportunity to return to normality. We can assume that this will not happen while Putin remains in power," Kubilius added.

He commented that the restoration of normal relations between Russia and the West will be possible only if Russia itself returns to normality.

According to him, re-establishing relations with Putin would have serious consequences in the future. "Europe has a strategic and long-term interest in seeing Russia return to normality. Europe must have a strategy for the normalization of relations with Russia," the Commissioner said.