Banned from Russia 2015
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.[1][2]
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. [3]
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.[4]
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.[5]
It is likely the list includes some people from other countries as well.
References
- ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2015/jun/02/french-philosopher-and-swedish-tax-chief-among-eu-89-banned-by-russia
- ↑ http://www.yle.fi/tvuutiset/uutiset/upics/liitetiedostot/RUS_Einreiseverbotsliste.pdf
- ↑ https://www.rt.com/russia/242113-russia-sanctions-russophobes-mccain/
- ↑ https://nationalpost.com/news/russia-slaps-entry-ban-on-13-canadian-lawmakers-officials-in-retaliation-for-ukraine-sanctions
- ↑ https://www.tv2.no/a/8899661/