Polish President Andrzej Duda should explain what he meant by the words about the impossibility for Russian citizens to travel to Poland after the imposition of sanctions. This was announced to RIA Novosti on Wednesday, February 23, by a member of the State Duma Committee on Security and Anti-Corruption Adalbi Shkhagoshev.
“In the event that he means a ban for all citizens of the Russian Federation on travel to Poland, we are convinced that he will have to explain himself and clarify what he had in mind: we are talking about those who are subject to sanctions or about all citizens “, – said the deputy.
Shkhagoshev stressed that if it was a ban for all Russians, then this would be a violation of Article 13 (on free movement and the right to leave and return to one’s country) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The UN should pay attention to Duda’s words, the parliamentarian believes.
“If we are talking about deputies, we, I repeat, cannot under any circumstances put an equal sign between the victims in the LPR and DPR and trips to Europe. We made our decision to recognize the republics absolutely consciously,” the politician added.
Earlier, the Polish leader announced the possibility of a travel blockade for Russian citizens in the event of an aggravation of the situation around Ukraine. He stressed that the sanctions must be very strong. At the same time, according to Duda, he personally knows many Russians and is confident in their “peaceful ambitions.”
On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees recognizing the independence of the LPR and DPR and agreements on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance.
A day later, the EU countries agreed on a new package of sanctions against Russia, which “will cause great damage to it.” Restrictive measures were also announced in the United States. It was noted that 351 State Duma deputies and another 27 individuals and legal entities would fall under the sanctions. Restrictions will also affect banks that finance operations taking place in the territory of Donbass.
The decision to recognize the republics was made against the background of the aggravation of the situation on the line of contact in the Donbass. On February 17, the DPR and LPR reported heavy shelling by Ukrainian security forces, including heavy weapons. The republics announced a general mobilization and evacuation of civilians to the territory of Russia.
Since 2014, the Ukrainian authorities have been conducting a military operation against the inhabitants of Donbass, who refused to recognize the results of the coup d’état and the new government in Ukraine. At the same time, Kiev blames Moscow for the current situation. Russia has repeatedly stated that it is not a party to the intra-Ukrainian conflict. The issues of its settlement are being discussed in the Minsk and Normandy formats.