"The refusal from the Russian authorities to deny entry (to Harms) in the country is unacceptable," a message posted on the official Twitter account of the German Foreign Ministry said, RIA Novosti reports.
Harms arrived in Moscow on Friday, September 26th, to take part in the hearings of the case of Ukrainian pilot Savchenko. According to German publication Die Zeit, the deputy stayed at the airport for three hours.
"Despite the fact that I have a diplomatic passport, I was denied entry to Russia. I was told to take the next plane flying back, and any attempt to enter Russia would be considered a criminal offense. So I am flying back to Brussels today," said Harms.
- The Director of the Department for European Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Ivan Soltanovsky said Thursday that Moscow did not rule out a possibility to deny entry to Russia for European politicians in response to the anti-Russian sanctions.
According to Russian investigators, Savchenko was a spotter during the shelling of Russian journalists Anton Voloshin and Igor Kornelyuk in Ukraine. The journalists subsequently died. Savchenko was charged with complicity in the murder of journalists. According to the investigators, Savchenko was detained in Russia, after she entered the country under the guise of a refugee.
[pravda.ru]
26/9/14
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Related:
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Rebecca Harms: Moskau verbietet Grünen-Politikerin Einreise...
A prominent European lawmaker said Thursday that she was turned back at a Moscow airport because she is persona non grata in Russia...
"Unerwünschte Person": Grünen-Politikerin an Einreise nach Russland gehindert...
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EU Condemns Russia for Barring Entry to MEP...
ReplyDeleteThe 28-nation bloc characterized as “unacceptable” the decision to bar entry to Rebecca Harms, a German member of European Parliament who co-chairs the Green group. The EU said Harms had checked with Russian authorities before traveling.
European Parliament President Martin Schulz denounced the treatment of Harms, calling it "a worrying setback" for relations with Russia, and said he would lodge a formal letter of protest with the Russian embassy in Brussels calling on Moscow to withdraw the decision.
Speaking to reporters in Brussels Friday, Harms said she was refused entry to Russia on Thursday despite holding a diplomatic passport. She said border guards kept her for three hours at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport and told her she had been declared persona non grata, after which she was put on a flight back to Brussels.
Harms, a critic of President Vladimir Putin, had planned to attend the trial of Nadiya Savchenko, Ukraine's only female pilot, who is currently in a Russian jail for alleged espionage and complicty in the deaths of two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine. Savchenko was captured by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine in June.
The EU has voiced concern over Savchenko’s detention.
Some information in this report was provided by Ap and AFP.
http://www.voanews.com/content/eu-condemns-russia-for-barring-entry-to-mep-/2463456.html
26/9/14