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Brussels (dpa) - The EU has called in the Russian EU ambassador Vladimir Tschischow because of the imposition of entry bans on eight high-ranking politicians and other officials.
"Ambassador Chizhov was informed that the EU institutions and the EU member states firmly reject this decision and condemn it sharply," said a statement on the protest.
The entry bans lacked any legal justification and were purely politically motivated.
According to the information, Chizhov was also made clear when summoned that the EU reserves the right to take “appropriate measures” in response to the latest Russian decisions.
The expulsion of Czech diplomats and the Russian plans for a list of “unfriendly foreign states” were also criticized.
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The measures announced on Friday affect EU Parliament President David Sassoli, Vice-Commission President Vera Jourova and Jacques Maire, the Special Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, who is responsible for the Navalny case.
In addition, the Berlin Chief Public Prosecutor Jörg Raupach is no longer allowed to travel to Russia.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow justified the entry bans with what it considered to be unfounded EU sanctions against Russian officials.
They were issued in March in response to the imprisonment of the opposition politician Alexei Navalny.
Russia also accuses the German authorities of not having adequately responded to requests for legal assistance from Russian investigators.
The spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow, Maria Sakharova, said on state television on Monday that Russia had not started this “war of sanctions”.
But one is always ready to come to terms "in order to end this senseless confrontation in which there will and cannot be any winners".
An escalation of the sanctions would have complex negative effects on the Russian and Western economies, said Sakharova.
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According to the EU, the conversation with Tschischow was held on Monday afternoon by the Secretary General of the EU Commission, Ilze Juhansone, and the Secretary General of the Foreign Service, Stefano Sannino.
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