Do not equate Russia with the Putin regime / Article

The European Parliament on Tuesday against the Russian opposition and anti-corruption activist Navalny was awarded the 2021 Sakharov Prize on freedom of thought.

In the name of his father, Sakharov The award went to Navalny’s daughter Darja. In her speech to Strasbourg, MEPs also sent a message to all European politicians.

“Say no one will dare to equate Russia [Vladimira] Putin’s regime.

Russia is part of Europe, and we are striving to be part of it. But we also want Europe to strive for itself, for the amazing principles that underpin it.

We strive for a Europe of ideas, a Europe of human rights and democracy. And we do not want a Europe whose chancellors and ministers dream of getting a job on Putin’s state-owned company board or sailing on oligarchic yachts, “said Navalny’s daughter, who wrote in a letter to her father about what she would like to receive at the award.

The Sakharov Prize has also been awarded to 45-year-old Navalny at a significant time – 10 years since December began the protests in Bolotnaya Square in Moscow. With tens of thousands of participants, it was the largest protest in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russian President Vladimir Putin had recently announced that he would run again as prime minister. After several actions, the culmination took place in May, the day before Putin’s inauguration ceremony, the so-called “Million March”.

But after Putin returned to the Kremlin, anti-demonstration laws became more stringent, with protesters at the time – like Boris Nemtsov – killed and Alexei Navalny now in prison.

CONTEXT:

The Kremlin’s opposition to Navalny detained January at Moscow airport a moment after he had returned from Germany, where he was treated after poisoning with “Novičok”. A Russian court has ruled that the suspended prison sentence handed down to Naval in 2014 must be commuted to a real deprivation of liberty. His planned to be imprisoned until 2023. in the middle of the year. Navalny and his supporters believe the accusations are politically motivated.

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