Russia Expels European Diplomats Over Navalny Protests, Sparks Row With EU

Agency Report — Russia on Friday expelled diplomats from Germany, Poland and Sweden it accused of attending illegal protests in support of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny.

The country also pointedly ignored a public call by the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, to free the opposition politician.

The expulsions appear to have wrecked an EU attempt to re-engage with Moscow being spearheaded by Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, who was in Russia for talks on Friday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the expulsion unjustified and a further step away from the rule of law in Russia, while Poland summoned the Russian ambassador over the decision.

Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent critic, was jailed this week for almost three years for parole violations he calls trumped up, a move the West condemned.

Russia announced the expulsions after Borrell used a joint news conference with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to call for Russia to free Navalny immediately.

Lavrov did not respond directly to the appeal but complained about what he described as human rights abuses in the EU and called the 27-nation bloc an unreliable partner.

Borrell had earlier said that the Navalny case was a low point for ties between Russia and the EU.

He said there was not yet a formal proposal for new EU sanctions on Russia but that the 27-member bloc would have a discussion next month about relations with Moscow.

Navalny was arrested on Jan. 17 on his return from treatment in Germany, where he was flown in August after falling ill from what German officials concluded was poisoning with a military-grade nerve agent.

The Kremlin has questioned whether Navalny was poisoned and denied blame for his illness.

Lavrov said it was up to Brussels if it wanted to impose sanctions on Russia, but that the EU was behaving more and more like Washington in its use of unilateral sanctions.

“We share the view that a further deterioration of ties is fraught with negative and highly unpredictable consequences,” Lavrov said.

A few hours after the talks, Russia announced the expulsion of the diplomats, saying they had taken part in illegal protests last month against Navalny’s jailing. The foreign ministry said Moscow considered their actions unacceptable.

Despite close trade ties and energy interdependence, Russia’s political relations with the European Union soured after Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.