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The demise of Russia’s best-known dissident, Alexei Navalny, triggered little shock in EU circles in Brussels, however noticed the Russian regime branded “evil” in Munich, Germany, the place prime diplomats and safety officers have been gathered for an annual safety convention.
“I knew they’d kill him,” was one EU diplomat’s first response, as information unfold on-line about Navalny’s demise on Friday (16 February).
“Killers,” mentioned a second EU diplomat, referring to Russian authorities.
A 3rd EU diplomat mentioned: “Very unhappy, although not fully stunning.”
Petras Auštrevičius, a liberal Lithuanian MEP, additionally informed EUobserver: “Navalny underestimated the [Russian] regime. He was improper to return [to Russia] — it was a street to hell”.
In accordance with a Russian assertion, Navalny died after out of the blue falling unconscious in his jail cell in Kharp, a distant city in Siberia, some 1,900km north-east of Moscow.
Russia informed the world the identical day that US and European VIPs met in Germany for the Munich Safety Convention (MSC), a yearly symposium on transatlantic affairs.
The information additionally got here within the run-up to the two-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February and Russia’s presidential election on 15 March.
Dozens of EU leaders, ministers, and prime officers blamed Russian president Vladimir Putin for Navalny’s demise — both as a result of he was murdered, or due to harsh jail circumstances.
However his passing had particular resonance in Germany, after medical doctors in Berlin saved Navalny’s life in 2020 when he was poisoned with novichok, a Russian nerve toxin, earlier than he returned to Russia, the place he was arrested on trumped up fees.
“I met Navalny right here in Berlin when he was making an attempt to get better from the poisoning assault … he has most likely now paid for his braveness along with his life,” mentioned German chancellor Olaf Scholz on the MSC on Friday.
Navalny’s spouse Yulia, who was on the Munich occasion, mentioned on stage to applause: “We should always battle in opposition to this evil. We should always battle this horrific regime in Russia at the moment”.
German overseas minister Annalena Baerbock mentioned: “Navalny was a logo for a free and democratic Russia. That’s exactly the rationale he needed to die”.
German finance minister Christian Lindner mentioned: “Putin tortured him to demise”.
Ursula von der Leyen, the European Fee president, who’s German, additionally mentioned whereas on the MSC that Navalny’s demise was “a grim reminder of what Putin and his regime are all about”.
The timing prompted hypothesis on whether or not Putin was sending a message to Berlin and to Russian folks.
“The timing of the killing will not be unintentional,” Auštrevičius mentioned.
One of many EU diplomats mentioned: “Putin is exhibiting us and the Russians he can do no matter he needs forward of the Russian election”.
“Navalny was a form of political hostage in contacts between Berlin and Moscow. With this, Putin’s exhibiting he does not care about German relations — if something good comes out of it, let it’s that Germany wakes as much as who they’re coping with,” the diplomat added.
Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s overseas minister, made comparable feedback.
“Politkovskaya, Litvinenko, Magnitsky, Nemtsov, Navalny are solely among the most well-known names on the lengthy checklist of critics killed by Putin,” Kuleba mentioned.
“There was outrage after every homicide, however Putin finally bought away with it, and world leaders shook his hand once more. This inspired him to proceed killing folks,” Kuleba added.
EU diplomats are at present discussing the thirteenth spherical of Russia sanctions, which have been to blacklist one other 193 people and entities over Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The EU has additionally sanctioned Russian officers concerned in Navalny’s jailing and in that of Vladimir Kara-Murza, one other outstanding Russian dissident, who’s disabled, and whom Putin has likewise despatched to a distant penal colony.
However the EU has held off sanctions on Russia’s metals, liquid gasoline, and nuclear-energy sectors, in addition to lots of its richest males for now.
Many main EU companies, together with Germany’s prime lender Deutsche Financial institution, are additionally nonetheless doing enterprise in Russia.
And when requested if Navalny’s demise was more likely to result in sharper EU motion, as an example, when overseas ministers meet in Brussels on Monday, one of many EU diplomats mentioned: “No. Nothing. There will be a quick [EU] shitstorm on Twitter and that is all”.
Russian opposition
In the meantime, main Russian opposition figures, most of them talking from exile, additionally blamed Putin.
Navalny was “murdered slowly and publicly in jail”, mentioned Russian émigré and ex-chess champion Garry Kasparov.
Navalny was now “immortal” and his legend posed a higher menace to Putin, mentioned exiled Russian author Boris Akunin.
Russian authorities warned folks to not collect in protests or memorials on Friday.
“Most Russians do not consider change will ever come from the bottom-up,” an EU diplomat mentioned.
Putin is about to rule Russia till 2036 after having amended constitutional limits to a number of phrases in workplace.
“‘The villains who robbed their very own folks bought collectively, recruited troopers and judges to protect their orgy, and now they’re having a feast,’ this sensible phrase exactly describes what’s happing in our nation,” Navalny as soon as mentioned of Putinism, quoting Russian author Leo Tolstoy.
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