(Paris) The death on Friday in an Arctic prison of the famous 47-year-old Russian opponent, Alexeï Navalny, aroused indignation in the West, with the EU pointing out the sole responsibility of the “Russian regime” and certain countries evoking a crime by Vladimir Putin.
EU: the Russian “regime” “solely responsible”
The EU holds “the Russian regime” “solely responsible for the tragic death” of opponent Alexeï Navalny, declared the President of the European Council Charles Michel.
“Alexei Navalny fought for the values of freedom and democracy. For his ideals, he made the ultimate sacrifice,” he wrote on X.
NATO: Russia “must answer serious questions”
Russia “must answer serious questions” regarding the death of the political opponent, declared NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on the sidelines of the Security Conference in Munich, Germany.
Ukraine: Putin must be “accountable”, says Zelensky
“It is obvious to me that [Alexeï Navalny] was killed like thousands of others who were tortured to death because of one person, Putin, who does not care who dies as long as he maintains his position,” the head of the Ukrainian state Volodomyr Zelensky, at a joint press conference with Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, adding that Putin “will have to be held accountable for his crimes.”
Germany: Chancellor Scholz “very saddened”
The opponent “paid for his courage with his life,” lamented German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who said he was “very saddened.”
US: for Blinken, “Russia is responsible”
Russia is responsible for “the situation which led to the death of Alexeï Navalny”, which underlines “the weakness and corruption” of Vladimir Putin’s system, reacted the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken.
US: a “sign of Putin’s brutality” for Harris
American Vice-President Kamala Harris said the death of the opponent constituted “a new sign of the brutality” of President Vladimir Putin. “No matter what story they tell, let’s be clear: Russia is responsible,” she said in a speech at the Munich Security Conference.
United Kingdom: a “huge tragedy” for the Russian people
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak deplored on Friday the “huge tragedy” that the death of Alexei Navalny represents for the Russian people, paying tribute to the “courage” of the “fierce defender of democracy” in Russia.
France: Navalny victim of “his resistance to a system of oppression”
The Russian opponent “paid with his life for his resistance to a system of oppression”, reacted the French Minister of Foreign Affairs Stéphane Séjourné on X, noting that “his death in a penal colony reminds us of the reality of Vladimir’s regime Poutine “.
Canada: “a painful reminder of the persistence of Putin’s oppressive regime,” says Joly
“Alexei Navalny paid with his freedom in the hope of a better and more democratic future for the Russian people. The announcement of his death is a painful reminder of the persistence of Putin’s oppressive regime,” Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly wrote on X.
Italy: a new “warning” for the world, judge Meloni
The death in prison of the Kremlin’s number 1 opponent is “a new warning for the international community”, judged Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in a press release, hoping that “full light will be shed” on this death.
Spain “demands that the circumstances of his death be clarified”
The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, affirmed on the X network that Madrid “ [exigeait] that the circumstances of this death be clarified. And Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said he was “distraught” by the death of the opponent “unjustly imprisoned by the Putin regime for his defense of human rights and democracy”.
Norway points to Moscow’s “heavy responsibility”
“The Russian government bears a heavy responsibility,” Espen Barth Eide, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, accused on X, saying he was “deeply saddened” by the news.
For Poland, Putin “responsible”
“This man was guilty of defying Vladimir Putin […] He was put in prison, where he remained in appalling conditions. Vladimir Putin is responsible for all this,” declared the head of Polish diplomacy Radoslaw Sikorski to the Polish PAP agency.
Latvia: Navalny “brutally murdered by the Kremlin”
Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny “has just been brutally assassinated by the Kremlin, it’s a fact and it’s something we need to know about the true nature of Russia’s current regime,” declared the Latvian president Edgars Rinkevics, on the social network