Yulia Navalnaïa, the wife of Kremlin opponent Alexei Navalny, who died on Friday in an Arctic penal colony, will participate in a meeting of European Union foreign ministers on Monday, the head of politics announced on Sunday EU foreigner, Josep Borrell.

“On Monday, I will welcome Yulia Navalnaïa to the EU Foreign Affairs Council,” the head of European diplomacy said on X on Sunday evening. “EU ministers will send a strong message of support to the freedom fighters in Russia and will honor the memory of Alexei Navalny,” he wrote.

On Monday, I will welcome Yulia Navalnaya at the EU Foreign Affairs Council.



EU Ministers will send a strong message of support to freedom fighters in Russia and honor the memory of Alexi @navalny.

— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) February 18, 2024

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani estimated that Yulia Navalnaïa's statements "will help all Europeans to better understand what type of violent system we must confront and contain in Ukraine."

“This makes us feel the threat that weighs on Russian citizens and all regions of our Europe, a continent where violence, brutality and war have been reestablished in a shameful and irresponsible way,” added Antonio Tajani in a communicated.

Also read “She becomes a political figure”: Yulia, the wife and unwavering support of Alexeï Navalny

Repressed tributes

This weekend, Russian police arrested hundreds of people in dozens of cities who came to lay flowers and light candles in honor of Alexei Navalny at memorials to victims of Stalin-era repression.

In St. Petersburg alone, in northwestern Russia, judges this weekend sentenced 154 of these people to up to 14 days in prison for violating strict laws governing protests, according to decisions made public by the press service of the local courts.

Human rights groups and independent media reported several similar convictions in other cities.

Protests against the Kremlin and other public actions opposing the regime are illegal in Russia, notably under legislation banning unauthorized gatherings.

A woman is arrested by police near the monument to the victims of political repression in Moscow on February 17, 2024. © Alexander Nemenov, AFP

The American ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy, said she paid tribute on Sunday in front of an improvised memorial in Moscow, at the Solovetsky stone, a monument to the victims of political repression.

Barriers were also installed on Sunday around another memorial in the capital, in front of a monument called the "Wall of Mourning", noted an AFP journalist.

Several dozen police officers stood guard, but a few people were allowed to approach the memorial to lay flowers.

International stir

Navalny's relatives said on Monday, February 19, that his family was denied access to his body for the third day in a row. They described the Russian authorities on Saturday as "killers" seeking to "cover their tracks" by refusing to hand over his body, the Kremlin remaining silent despite accusations from the West and rallies in tribute to the opponent.

Alexei Navalny was the most prominent opposition representative in Russia, where he gained great popularity thanks to his denunciations of corruption under the regime of Vladimir Putin.

The Russian head of state, who never mentioned Alexeï Navalny by name, was visiting the Urals on Friday, and did not mention his death. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Western leaders of having had "absolutely unacceptable" and "hysterical" reactions to the death of Alexei Navalny, which caused consternation and great emotion around the world.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called on Sunday not to draw hasty conclusions about the causes of Alexeï Navalny's death.

"I think it's a matter of common sense (...) If the death was suspicious, we must first investigate to find out what the citizen died of," Lula told reporters in Addis Ababa, where he is attending an African Union summit, adding: "If you judge now and say I don't know who ordered the assassination and it wasn't him, then you have to apologize. Why rush to accuse? "

With AFP

The France 24 summary of the week

invites you to look back at the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you! Download the France 24 application