The European Union is using the situation surrounding opposition activist Alexey Navalny as a "stick to beat" the Russian government with, Clare Daly, an Irish member of the European Parliament, told Sputnik, adding that the bloc's attempts to use human rights as justification for its involvement in the affair contradicts its unwillingness to address violations carried out within its own borders
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th February, 2021) The European Union is using the situation surrounding opposition activist Alexey Navalny as a "stick to beat" the Russian government with, Clare Daly, an Irish member of the European Parliament, told Sputnik, adding that the bloc's attempts to use human rights as justification for its involvement in the affair contradicts its unwillingness to address violations carried out within its own borders.
The bloc's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said on February 9 that the EU could impose sanctions on Russia over the jailing of Navalny, who had his suspended sentence overturned two weeks ago due to probation violations.
According to Daly, the EU's response has been motivated by the bloc's geopolitical aims, rather than any concern for Navalny's human rights.
"The only reason people in the European Union are concerned about him is that he's in Russia. It's just a stick to beat the Russian authorities with. It's not actually about human rights at all," she said.
Daly also contrasted the EU's response to the Navalny case with its silence on the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in the United Kingdom, and the lengthy prison sentences given to Catalan independence figures.
"Given the contradiction that's there, it's patently obvious that the concern isn't about human rights, it's not about Navalny being imprisoned, as we call him a parliamentarian, because they don't care at all about the fact there are parliamentarians in prison in Spain for sentences of 10 years for holding a referendum. They don't allow the mention of Julian Assange," she said.
The Irish member of the European Parliament accused the EU of being reticent to address human rights abuses carried out within the bloc's borders.
"They are constantly moralizing and lecturing about human rights to countries outside their borders and they're strangely shy when it comes to dealing with their own human rights violations. If they were to turn a fraction of their energy into dealing with their own member states, well they wouldn't have time to be lecturing the rest of the world," Daly remarked.
A Moscow court on February 2 ruled to send Navalny to jail for three and a half years, rescinding the suspended sentence given for his conviction in an embezzlement case.
The European Court of Human Rights has urged Moscow to release him from jail, a call which Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday violated Russian and international laws.
