EU vows new sanctions will be leveled on Russia over Alexei Navalny's death

Yulia Navalnaya (L), the widow of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, shakes hands with Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative, on Monday when she spoke to the union’s foreign ministers.

Feb. 19 (UPI) — The European Union has vowed to impose additional sanctions on Russia over the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

The EU’s high representative, Josep Borrell, said in a statement on Monday that the union was “outraged” by Navalny’s death and that its lawmakers stand with the opposition leader’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya — who has said that she will continue her husband’s work — as well as their friends and family.

“The EU will spare no efforts to hold Russia’s political leadership and authorities to account, in close coordination with our partners, and impose further costs for their actions, including through sanctions,” Borrell said.

Navalny died Friday at an Artic penal colony where he was incarcerated on charges widely seen as politically motivated.

Borrell earlier Monday told reporters in Brussels that member states will be prosing sanctions against those responsible, including those in the penitentiary system, though he was quick to reiterate that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ultimately the one to blame for Navalny’s death.

He added that in paying hommage to Navalny, he will propose to rename the union’s global human rights sanctions regime after the slain Putin critic.

“We have to send a message of support to the Russian opposition,” he said, adding that christening the system the Navalny Human Rights Sanctions Regime will ensure his name is “forever written on the work of the European Union in defending human rights.”

The EU has repeatedly sanctioned Russia over its war in Ukraine as well as its treatment of Navalny.

Navalny, a former lawyer and anti-corruption activist, rose to prominence over his vocal criticism of the Putin regime and was convicted on embezzlement charges widely described as politically motivated in 2014 and was handed a suspended sentence.

As his fame grew, Navalny was poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok in 2020. He fell ill on a flight from Tomsk to Moscow and was taken to Germany, where he stayed for several months for treatment.

On his January 2021 return to Russia, he was arrested on charges of violating his suspended sentence. He was later sentenced to more than 30 years on extremism and fraud charges, which have also been widely rejected.

Russia has denied responsibility for the poisoning. Borrell on Monday called it an assassination attempt with the use of nerve agent banned under the Chemical Weapons Convention, which Russia is a signatory of.

“Throughout his life, Mr. Navalny demonstrated incredible courage, dedication to his country and his fellow citizens and determination, with his anti-corruption work across Russia, a message that attracted many across the country,” Borrell said.

“This is why Putin and his regime were afraid of him, also in the context of Russia’s ongoing illegal war of aggression against Ukraine and the Russian Presidential elections in March.”

In the wake of Navalny’s death, several nations have summoned Russian ambassadors in their countries to lodge complaints, including the Netherlands, Finland and New Zealand on Monday.

“The Finnish MFA today summoned the Russian Ambassador regarding the death of Alexei Navalny, to emphasize that Russia is responsible and to demand a full and transparent investigation,” Helsinki’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

New Zealand said it called its Russian ambassador to express “grave concern” over Navalny’s death.

“NZ holds the Russian government responsible for his treatment & death in prison,” it said in a statement on X.

Russia retorted that such statements “are rabid and unacceptable.”

The announcement came as Navalnaya spoke to the EU’s foreign ministers on Monday.