Reinsalu: Baltic states should set example to Europe by creating sanctions
The Baltic states should set an example to Europe and create sanctions against Russia to put pressure on the country to release jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, former Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Reinsalu (Isamaa) has said.
Last week, at a Council of Europe meeting no agreement was reached on placing sanctions on Russia after Estonia and "like-minded" countries had called for them, Reinsalu wrote on social media.
He thinks Estonia, in cooperation with Latvia and Lithuania, should impose sanctions on members of the Russian elite in order to put pressure on Western countries to make a decision.
"At the end of last year, the EU approved general rules for sanctioning human rights violations, now the EU must act. Otherwise, the situation is morally absurd," he wrote.
Navalny was detained at a Moscow airport last week while returning to Russia from Berlin for the first time since being poisoned last year.
Last year, the Baltic states create sanctions on members of the Belarussian elite after the state security services used force against peaceful protesters after the presidential elections.
Their sanctions were imposed several months before the European Union reached a similar agreement.
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Editor: Helen Wright
