The European Union was notified by Moscow "in general" of its decision to expand the list of EU citizens who are denied Russia entry, but it is not aware of the reason behind the sanctions and the composition of the list, EU spokesman Peter Stano told Sputnik on Thursday, rejecting the sanctions
BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th September, 2020) The European Union was notified by Moscow "in general" of its decision to expand the list of EU citizens who are denied Russia entry, but it is not aware of the reason behind the sanctions and the composition of the list, EU spokesman Peter Stano told Sputnik on Thursday, rejecting the sanctions.
On Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, announced that Moscow was expanding the "blacklist" due to Brussels' confrontational approach.
"We have been notified by the Russian Federation in general of the decision to expand their list of representatives of EU Member States and Institutions that are denied entry to its territory. We have not been notified concretely who or how many EU citizens these measures will apply to ... We have not been notified why the Russian Federation has taken these measures," Stano said, stressing that the Russians lists are not "publicly available."
The EU spokesman slammed the sanctions as "unjustified."
"We reject these retaliatory sanctions as announced by Russia, as we have done for other Russian retaliatory sanctions, such as in the agri-food sector, as they are unjustified," Stano said.
Stano explained that the EU's sanctions on Russia and Russian citizens are "targeted and comply with EU and international law."
"They are based on clear listing criteria and legally-robust evidence," Stano stressed.
The EU spokesman expressed the belief that Moscow should explain why exactly the measures were implemented "and on what legal grounds."
