STOCKHOLM — Sweden summoned Russia’s ambassador to Stockholm
on Saturday, denouncing Moscow for sanctioning
European Union officials
including a Swedish researcher in an escalating row between Russia and the
West.
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The announcement came a day after Moscow barred eight EU
officials from entering Russia — itself a retaliation to European Council
sanctions over the jailing of Kremlin critic
Alexei Navalny and a violent
police response to protests in his support.
Swedish foreign ministry spokesman Mats Samuelsson told AFP
that the Russian ambassador was being summoned “to express our protests
regarding the Russian measures”.
“Unlike the EU sanctions ... Russia’s sanctions are
arbitrary, legally unclear, and are the expression of political motives,” the
ministry said.
Among those barred from Russia was Asa Scott, the head of a
laboratory specializing in toxic substances of the
Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI) who helped confirm that Navalny was poisoned by the Soviet-era
Novichok nerve toxin last year.
The FOI’s director-general, Jens Mattsson, said that “it is
completely unacceptable that Russia is imposing unfounded sanctions against a
researcher doing her job”.
“The sanction will not influence the work of the institute,”
Mattsson said in a statement.
The Russian foreign ministry’s list of European officials
barred from Russia also include European Parliament President David Sassoli and
Vera Jourova, vice president of the European Commission for values and
transparency.
The EU on Friday blasted the Russian action as
“unacceptable” and said it “reserves the right to take appropriate measures in
response”.
Sweden said it “regretted that Russia has chosen to further
deteriorate its relations with the EU”.
“We take the deteriorating situation of democracy, human
rights, and the rule of law in Russia very seriously,” the foreign ministry
said.
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