Martin Schulz on Russia's restrictive measures against MEPs

European Parliament President Martin Schulz i on Wednesday asked the Russian Federation to immediately disclose the full list of all Members of the European Parliament who are affected by the restrictive measures of the Russian Federation, and to communicate the clear reasons why they are banned to enter the country.

The request comes after Rebecca Harms i, MEP and co-chair of the Greens group in the European Parliament, was turned away on Thursday from entering the country at Moscow's international airport.

In his letter sent today to Russia's EU ambassador, President Schulz underlined that the EU has gradually and transparently imposed and made public individual sanctions on certain Russian officials for their role in illegal annexation of Crimea and destabilisation of Eastern Ukraine. In stark contrast the Russian restrictive measures were applied in an arbitrary way without a reasoning for their adoption or any forewarning of their existence.

President Schulz's letter is in reply to a note sent by Russia's ambassador Vladimir Chizhov, which attempted to justify the Russian authorities' actions at preventing entry to Ms Harms.