Situation in Russia: poisoning of Alexei Navalny, 17 September 2020

On August 2020, Russian opposition leader and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny suffered from a nerve-agent attack on a domestic flight from Siberia to Moscow. He was later flown to Germany for detailed toxicological analysis which proved that he was poisoned with with a Novichok nerve agent. The European Parliament strongly condemned the assassination attempt against Navalny.

The resolution was adopted with 532 votes in favour, 84 against and 72 abstentions.

The resolution:

- condemns the repeated use of chemical nerve agents against Russian citizens, namely the assassination attempt against Alexei Navalny;

- recalls that the use of chemical weapons is a crime under international law, namely the Chemical Weapons Convention;

- asks for the launch of a comprehensive international investigation to look into the circumstances that led to Navalny's assassination attempt;

- calls on the EU Member States to coordinate their positions towards Russia and speak with one voice;

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