On Tuesday, 2 June, participants of the plenary meeting of COSAC (Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the European Union) adopted a joint statement expressing concern about the decision of the authorities of the Russian Federation to ban the entry of European politicians and officials, including several prominent and high-ranking members of the European Parliament and national parliaments, into the territory of the Russian Federation.

“Sanctions imposed by the European Union as a result of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine clearly indicate persons and organisations to which they refer. Furthermore, there were broad discussions on the grounds for these sanctions before they were actually imposed. The fact that Russia has not published its blacklist is particularly concerning as any affected person would find about it only upon an attempt to enter Russia,” emphasised Lolita Čigāne, Chairperson of the European Affairs Committee of the Saeima and the head of the Latvian delegation to COSAC.

In its statement, COSAC deems this decision as a step backwards in the efforts of the international community to ensure constructive dialogue to find a peaceful and lasting solution to the current geopolitical crisis, and urges the authorities of the Russian Federation to formally communicate the list of people concerned and the reasons for including each individual on the black list.

COSAC calls on the authorities of the Russian Federation to ensure transparency in line with international law and legal obligations giving the relevant individuals the right to effective judicial protection, in order to ensure formal parallelism.
With its statement COSAC expresses solidarity with the persons concerned.

On 1 and 2 June, the plenary meeting of the COSAC gathers in Riga chairpersons of the European affairs committees from all EU member states, members of the European Parliament, as well as high public officials and experts on European affairs. This is one of the six events hosted by the Saeima within the framework of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the EU.


Saeima Press Service