Banned from Russia 2015

Banned from Russia 2015
Membership	• Solvita Aboltina • Thomas Ahrenkiel • Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth • Petras Austrevicius • Hans van Baalen • Louis Bontes • Bogdan Borusewicz • Jerzy Buzek • Karl-Georg Wellmann • Guy Verhofstadt • Zbigniew Wlosowicz • Inese Vaidere • Edmundas Vaitekunas • Ilian Vasilev • Ramon Luis • Odd Sven-Eric Werin • Gediminas Grina • Philip Dunne • Mark Demesmaeker • Lene Despersen • Marek Zenisek • Roberts Zile • Katrin Suder • Sandra Kalniete • Daniel Carlsen • Meelis Kiili • Nick Clegg • Daniel Cohn-Bendit • Stanislav Koziej • Anna Maria Corazza Bildt • Gunnar Karlson • Tunne Kelam • Iulian Chifu • Pawel Kowal • Tiberiu-Liviu Chondon • Uwe Corsepius • Andrius Kubilus • Robert Kupiecki • Radoslav Kujawa • Vytautas Landsbergis • Ryszard Antoni • Bernard-Henri Levy • Eva Lidström Adler • Adam Lipinski • Edward McMillan-Scott • Henri Malosse • Theodore Margellos • Per Stig Moller • Marek Henryk Migalski • Karl Müllner • Jovita Neliupsiene • Kristiina Ojuland • Andres Parve • Andrew Parker • Bernd Posselt • Artis Pabrikis • Arturas Palauskas • Agniezska Pomaska • Marietta de Pourbaix-Lundin • Urmas Reinsalu • Malcolm Rifkind • Andrew Robathan • Bruno le Roux • José Ignacio Salafranca Sanchez-Neyra • Arthur Tiganik • Eugen Tomac • Marek Tomaszycki • Robert Walter • Andrzej Falkowski • Anna Elzbieta • Michael Fuchs • Stefan Füle • Rebecca Harms • Heidi Anneli Hautala • Gheorghe Hategan • Gunnar Hökmark • Maciej Hunia • Nicholas Houghton • Ryszard Czarnecki • Adrian Cioroianu • Karel Schwarzenberg • Jaromir Stetin • Daniel Pfeiffer • Benjamin Rhodes • Harry Reid • John Boehner • Robert Menendes • John McCain • Daniel Coats • Mary Landrieu • Trine Skei Grande • Bård Vegard Solhjell • Andrew Scheer • Peter Van Loan • Ted Opitz • James Bezan • Dean Allison • Irwin Cotler • Chrystia Freeland • Paul Dewar • Wayne Wouters • Jean-François Tremblay • Christine Hogan • Raynell Andreychuk • Paul Grod

This is a list of mostly EU politicians and military officials Russia banned in 2015, in retaliation for EU's own sanctions and travel bans on Russian citizens the same year, plus some US, Canadian and other officials.

It is interesting to consider on what basis the Russian Foreign Ministry compiled the list. Many of the banned have hitched their careers paths to the regime change circuit, including support for humanitarian interventions and human rights as an excuse to intervene in foreign countries (Libya,Syria Iraq, Nicaragua etc. - the list goes on and on). Many have been active in this since at least the 1980s.

Several are noted for their wish for an firm policy against Russia, and no doubt regard the ban as a distinction.

The list was handed to EU foreign ministries, and was soon leaked.

The ban seems to be part of a ban on 200 persons in retaliation for the ban of 150 Russian officials in 2014. The US nationals on the full list is only partially known, but includes Daniel Pfeiffer and Benjamin Rhodes, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Robert Menendes and Senators John McCain, Daniel Coats and Mary Landrieu.

13 Canadians were included: Andrew Scheer,Commons Speaker;Peter Van Loan, government House leader;Ted Opitz,Conservative;James Bezan, Conservative MP;Dean Allison, Conservative MP;Irwin Cotler, Liberal MP;Chrystia Freeland, Liberal MP;Paul Dewar,NDP MP;Wayne Wouters, clerk of the privy council;Jean-François Tremblay, deputy secretary to the cabinet;Christine Hogan, assistant secretary to the cabinet;Sen. Raynell Andreychuk, Conservative senator from Saskatchewan;Paul Grod.

As for Norway (NATO, but not part of EU) two politicians are known to have been included. In 2017, two politicians (Grande and Solhjell), as part of a larger delegation, were denied visa. Russia stated that Norway had known this beforehand, something the Norwegian government denied.

It is likely the list includes some people from other countries as well.