MOSCOW (AP) – Russia said Friday it expelled diplomats from Sweden, Poland and Germany, accusing them of attending a rally in support of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, as international tensions grew over the imprisonment of the Kremlin’s most prominent enemy .
The announcement came when Josep Borrell, the European Union’s head of foreign affairs, told Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that the treatment of Navalny is “a low point” in relations between Brussels and Moscow.
The Russian Foreign Ministry accused Swedish and Polish diplomats in St. Petersburg and a German diplomat in Moscow of participating in what it called ‘illegal’ meetings on January 23. Tens of thousands of people across Russia took to the streets that day to protest Navalny’s arrest.
The diplomats were proclaimed “persona non grata” and had to leave Russia “soon”, the ministry said.
European officials vehemently denounced the move.
Germany said its diplomat was fulfilling its duty by monitoring developments, and it warned Moscow that its action will not go unanswered by convening the Russian ambassador.
“We consider this expulsion to be unjustified and think it is another facet of things that can be seen in Russia at the moment and are quite far from the rule of law,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin after a video conference with the French President Emmanuel Macron. . Macron expressed his solidarity with Germany, Poland and Sweden and condemned “in stronger terms” the evictions and what happened to Navalny “from the beginning to the end”.
Sweden said it “finds this completely unjustified, which we also conveyed on the Russian side,” said Mats Samuelsson, spokesman for the State Department, in a statement to The Associated Press. Stockholm “strongly rejects Russian claims that the diplomat participated in a demonstration in Russia” and “reserves the right to take appropriate action in response,” he said.
Poland also warned Moscow that the move will further deteriorate relations.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned the deportation, tweeting, “This arbitrary and unjustified act is Russia’s latest departure from its international obligations.” British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab also said on Twitter that expelling diplomats “simply because they are doing their job is a gross attempt to distract from Russia’s attacks on opposition leaders, protesters and journalists.”
At the beginning of his talks with Lavrov, Borrell said that “our relationships are under great strain, and the Navalny case is a low point in our relationships.”
Afterwards, Borell said he had expressed concern about Navalny’s imprisonment and the arrests of thousands of those who had gathered on his behalf. The EU official said he has also communicated the bloc’s support for Navalny’s release and for an investigation into the poisoning in August, but added that there were currently no proposals for additional sanctions against Russia by the EU .
Merkel said that “we reserve the right to continue the sanctions,” but noted that the situation in Navalny should not affect the Nord Stream 2 pipeline under construction to deliver more Russian natural gas to Germany.
Lavrov again accused European officials of refusing to share evidence of the poisoning. The Kremlin has said it will not listen to Western criticism of Navalny’s conviction and police crackdown on his supporters.
Navalny, 44, an anti-corruption investigator and the most prominent critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was arrested January 17 when he returned from Germany, where he recovered for five months from a nerve poisoning he blames on the Kremlin. Russian authorities have rejected the accusation.
On Tuesday, a Moscow court ruled that Navalny in Germany had violated his suspended sentence for a 2014 money laundering conviction and ordered him to serve two years and eight months in prison. The verdict caused international outrage.
During the massive protests in Russia’s eleven time zones for two consecutive weekends, many people chanted slogans against Putin in the greatest expression of discontent in years. Thousands were detained. Several of Navalny’s closest allies are facing criminal charges and house arrest, and many of his associates received short sentences.
Top Navalny strategist Leonid Volkov argued Thursday that trying to hold rallies every weekend would only lead to many more arrests and wear out the participants, and said protests should pause until spring after they peak.
Instead, he urged supporters to focus on challenging Kremlin-backed candidates in September’s parliamentary elections and securing new Western sanctions against Russia to push for Navalny’s release. He said the Navalny team would try to ensure that “any world leader would discuss nothing but Navalny’s release with Putin.”
On Friday, however, another Navalny ally, Vladimir Milov, expressed disappointment at Borrell’s visit to Moscow. He called it a “disastrously weak visit” and said Lavrov “used him as an award to lecture Europe on” international law. “
“Maybe he’ll bring some Sputink V vaccines as a reward,” Milov tweeted, referring to Borrell’s praise. of Russia’s domestically developed coronavirus vaccine.
Meanwhile, Navalny was back in court for another trial on Friday – this time on charges of defamation by a World War II veteran who was featured in a pro-Kremlin video that Navalny denounced on social media last year.
A criminal investigation was opened after Navalny beat people last year featured in a video promoting constitutional changes that allowed for an extension of Putin’s rule. Navalny called the people in the video “corrupt front men”, “people with no conscience” and “traitors”.
The Russian authorities insisted that Navalny’s comments “belittle (the) honor and dignity” of Ignat Artemenko, the veteran featured in the video.
If convicted, Navalny faces a fine or community service. He has denied the charge and declined to file a plea on Friday, calling the trial a “public relations trial” aimed at belittling him.
“The Kremlin needs headlines (saying that) Navalny slandered a veteran,” he said.
Artemenko, 94, attended the hearing by teleconference and said he was troubled by Navalny’s comments and demanded a public apology.
Navalny accused Artemenko’s family of exploiting the weak man for their own gain, claiming the case was made up and the evidence falsified.
“The judge should burn in hell, and you sell out your grandfather,” Navalny said, as Artemenko’s grandson testified.
The hearing was eventually postponed to February 12.
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Writers from Associated Press, Geir Moulson in Berlin, Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Sylvie Corbet in Paris, Matthew Lee in Washington, and Jill Lawless in London contributed.