A few weeks before the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the death in prison of the opponent Alexei Navalny has further worsened relations between European countries and the Russian Federation. Last Friday, the penitentiary center in the region of Yamalia-Nenetsia reported the death of Navalni, triggering a large number of condemning reactions by the main political leaders of the world. Several days later, several countries have summoned Russian diplomacy established on their borders to comment on this controversial phenomenon.
Albares speaks with Navalni’s widow
During the morning of Monday, the Foreign Ministers of the different countries of the European Union supported Navalny’s widow, Yulia Navalnaya, who has demanded that Russia clarify “credibly” the circumstances of her husband’s death. José Manuel Albares, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Spain, was present at the event, and at the subsequent press conference he declared: “I have expressed my support for Yulia Navalnaya, just as I express it to so many defenders of democracy and freedoms. The Government of Spain always, everywhere in the world, stands alongside those who defend freedom and human rights.
Shortly after hearing the news about the death of the well-known Russian opponent, Albares spoke out on the social network “The last person responsible is obviously the one who unjustly put him in prison for political reasons”and this Monday your Ministry has summoned the Russian ambassador to our country, Yuri Klimenkoas other European governments have done today in response to Navalny’s death.
Other countries call for diplomacy
According to the German newspaper FACE. Steffen Hebestreit, spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry, said today: “Our respect goes to all the brave people of Russia who, despite the harshest repression, are committed to democracy and freedom.”
In addition to speaking out in this regard, the Ministry has summoned the Russian diplomacy established in Berlin to unite. However, the Russian Embassy in the city has stated that the circumstances of Navalny’s death are “an exclusively internal matter” about which the authorities of the country chaired by Vladimir Putin will investigate.
Through its Telegram channel, Russian diplomacy in the country has published a message that rejects the accusations issued by European leaders in recent hours: “The attempts of some Western countries to take advantage of what happened to make false accusations against Russia and artificially stirring up anti-Russian sentiment are counterproductive and inadmissible.”the authorities assert in the statement.
The Finnish Foreign Ministry – who has pointed to Moscow as “responsible” for the death of the opponent– has also announced that it has summoned the Russian ambassador established in its country, Pave Kuzketsov. The Baltic Republics – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – have done the same, and have released a joint statement in which they call into question the legitimacy of the upcoming Russian presidential elections, which will be held in the middle of next March.
“In an environment of total repression against the opposition and independent media, with a lack of credible alternative candidates and without international supervision, These elections will lack democratic legitimacy,” the administrations of Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius have stated.
Brief explanations from prison
For the moment, the management administration of the penitentiary center Yamalia-Nenetsiaclose to the Arctic, has stated that Navalny, 47 years old, fainted during a walk last Friday, and that prison health workers were unable to revive him.
