We, Members of the European Parliament, are appalled by and strongly condemn the murderous attack on Alexey Navalny’s life, Russia’s most renowned opposition figure. We acknowledge the statement by the Berlin Charité hospital according to which, “clinical evidence suggests an intoxication through a substance belonging to the group of cholinesterase inhibitors”, followed by the German government’s confirmation that experts found unequivocal proof of a chemical nerve agent of the Novichok group that has poisoned Alexey Navalny.
We concur with calls by various European governments’ on Russian authorities for a full and transparent investigation into the case to hold the perpetrators accountable.
However, we remain extremely sceptical that Russian authorities are fit and willing to investigate the real background of this crime. We all look back at a long history of Putin opponents and independent journalists attacked and/or murdered and Russian authorities failing to bring to justice the real perpetrators: Anna Politkovskaya, Alexander Litvinenko, Sergei Skripal, Boris Nemtsov, Pyotr Verzilov and Vladimir Kara-Murza – these are only the most prominent cases in this gruesome track record.
Thus, we call upon the EU High Representative Josep Borrell and the German Council Presidency to work towards an international investigation into the poisoning of Alexey Navalny within structures of the United Nations and Council of Europe with possible support of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Russia, as a leading member of the United Nations and the Council of Europe, is bound by their obligations to protect fundamental human rights and investigate crimes. We also reaffirm the necessity by the EU to swiftly establish the EU Human Rights Violations Sanction Mechanism, so we can hold accountable the people who are behind those attacks against opposition figures and journalists.
We cannot stand by and watch while opposition in Russia is systematically subjected to poison attacks.
Brussels, 4 September 2020
Read the whole Open Call here
Sergey Lagodinsky (Greens/EFA)
Rasmus Andresen (Greens/EFA)
Andrus Ansip (Renew Europe)
Bartosz Arłukowicz (EPP)
Attila Ara-Kovács (S&D)
Maria Arena (S&D)
Margrete Auken (Greens/EFA)
Petras Austrevicius (Renew Europe)
Alice Bah Kuhnke (Greens/EFA)
Katarina Barley (S&D)
Nicola Beer (Renew Europe)
Robert Biedroń (S&D)
Vladimír Bilčík (EPP)
Gabriele Bischoff (S&D)
Brando Benifei (S&D)
Isabel Benjumea (EPP)
Damian Boeselager (Greens/EFA)
Vlad Marius Botoș (Renew Europe)
Patrick Breyer (Greens/EFA)
Reinhard Bütikofer (Greens/EFA)
Maria da Graça Carvalho (EPP)
Anna Cavazzini (Greens/EFA)
Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz (S&D)
Antoni Comín (NI)
Ignazio Corrao (NI)
Viola von Cramon-Taubadel (Greens/EFA)
Katalin Cseh (Renew Europe)
Peter van Dalen (EPP)
Jakop Dalunde (Greens/EFA)
Gwendoline Delbos-Corfield (Greens/EFA)
Klára Dobrev (S&D)
Anna Donath (Renew Europe)
Pascal Durand (Renew Europe)
Lucia Ďuriš Nicholsonová (ECR)
Bas Eickhout (Greens/EFA)
Laurence Farreng (Renew Europe)
Romeo Franz (Greens/EFA)
Tomasz Frankowski (EPP)
Niels Fuglsang (S&D)
Gianna Gancia (ID)
Alexandra Geese (Greens/EFA)
Andreas Glück (Renew Europe)
Raphaël Glucksmann (S&D)
Markéta Gregorová (Greens/EFA)
Francisco Guerreiro (Greens/EFA)
Bernard Guetta (Renew Europe)
Henrike Hahn (Greens/EFA)
Svenja Hahn (Renew Europe)
Andrzej Halicki (EPP)
Martin Häusling (Greens/EFA)
Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana (Greens/EFA)
Pär Holmgren (Greens/EFA)
Evin Incir (S&D)
Rasa Juknevičienė (EPP)
Sandra Kalniete (EPP)
Radan Kanev (EPP)
Peter Kofod (ID)
Arba Kokalari (EPP)
Petros Kokkalis (GUE/NGL)
Moritz Körner (Renew Europe)
Andrey Kovatchev (EPP)
Andrius Kubilius (EPP)
Elżbieta Kruk (ECR)
David Lega (EPP)
Miriam Lexmann (EPP)
Nathalie Loiseau (Renew Europe)
Leopoldo López Gil (EPP)
Peter Lundgren (ECR)
Erik Marquardt (Greens/EFA)
Radka Maxová (Renew Europe)
Liudas Mažylis (EPP)
Dace Melbārde (ECR)
Karen Melchior (Renew Europe)
Csaba Molnár (S&D)
Dolors Montserrat (EPP)
Javier Nart (Renew Europe)
Hannah Neumann (Greens/EFA)
Niklas Nienaß (Greens/EFA)
Ville Niinistö (Greens/EFA)
Ljudmila Novak (EPP)
Jan-Christoph Oetjen (Renew Europe)
Urmas Paet (Renew Europe)
Jutta Paulus (Greens/EFA)
Mikuláš Peksa (Greens/EFA)
Kira Peter-Hansen (Greens/EFA)
Sabrina Pignedoli (NI)
Kati Piri (S&D)
Peter Pollák (EPP)
Clara Ponsatí (NI)
Carles Puigdemont (NI)
Frédérique Ries (Renew Europe)
María Soraya Rodríguez Ramos (Renew Europe)
Sándor Rónai (S&D)
Bronis Ropė (Greens/EFA)
Mounir Satouri (Greens/EFA)
Christel Schaldemose (S&D)
Andreas Schieder (S&D)
Radosław Sikorski (EPP)
Michaela Šojdrová (EPP)
Jordi Solé i Ferrando (Greens/EFA)
Kim van Sparrentak (Greens/EFA)
Maria Spyraki (EPP)
Ivan Štefanec (EPP)
Tineke Strik (Greens/EFA)
Ramona Strugariu (Renew Europe)
Riho Terras (EPP)
Róża von Thun und Hohenstein (EPP)
Eugen Tomac (EPP)
Marie Toussaint (Greens/EFA)
István Ujhelyi (S&D)
Ernest Urtasun (Greens/EFA)
Monika Vana (Greens/EFA)
Adrián Vázquez Lázara (Renew Europe)
Marianne Vind (S&D)
Pernille Weiss (EPP)
Michal Wiezik (EPP)
Salima Yenbou (Greens/EFA)
Milan Zver (EPP)