There are 4,000 political prisoners and 1,200 “foreign agents” in Russia. The EU: “Putin’s pact with the people is falling apart”

Brussels – Political prisoners, unfounded accusations of acting as foreign agents, dissidents murdered in Europe, and visa applications rejected. Against this backdrop, a war that has now been raging for over four years. This is the picture of Russia painted today (23 June) at the opening of the second edition of Brussels Dialogue, the conference organised by the European Parliament to maintain an open channel of communication between the European institutions and Russian democratic forces, civil society, and anti-war activists. 

As explained by Ville Niinistö—a Finnish MEP for the Greens
and one of the main rapporteurs on the European regulation for the phasing out
of Russian gas—when he opened the proceedings, the aim of the conference is
also to “provide European decision-makers with a clear understanding of
developments within Russia,” and to “identify how the European Union can best
support those who promote human rights and are working to end Russia’s war of
aggression against Ukraine.”

The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Russia, Mariana Katzarova, explained that “the machinery of repression has not stopped for a single month” since her last report to the UN Human Rights Council. Over 1,200 individuals and organisations have been labelled “foreign agents” in Russia, and more than 350 organisations have been banned as “undesirable”. There are over 4,000 political prisoners and around 5,000 politically motivated criminal cases. Furthermore, Russia ranks third in the world for the number of imprisoned journalists, nearly a third of whom are Ukrainian citizens. Torture is “widespread and systematic,” with hundreds of cases documented. More than a hundred minors are currently detained on political or terrorism-related charges. 

Katzarova then cited a telling example: the journalist and activist Marija Ponomarenko, who has been in prison for over four years for reporting on the Russian bombing of the theatre in Mariupol, where hundreds of civilians died. She also linked the issue to the EU’s forthcoming multiannual financial framework, described as “a test of human rights” because “if the EU recognises that repression in Russia is structural, then support for those resisting it must also become structural.” Therefore, the assessment of the new Global Europe instrument, which provides funding for independent Russian and Belarusian civil society and for free media, is positive, provided that it becomes “a clear, visible and predictable framework, not a fragmented set of short-term grants.” 

The rapporteur then took the opportunity to issue a direct warning to the European Parliament regarding the new EU Return Regulation. “EU countries cannot simply outsource their human rights obligations” because this entails “a high risk of violations against vulnerable detainees, including minors,” she noted. And, addressing the people in the chamber directly, she emphasised: “I truly hope that none of the Russian dissidents and human rights defenders sitting here today end up tomorrow in one of these hubs, on their way to deportation, torture, and imprisonment in Russia.”   

Equally urgent, according to Katzarova, is the issue of visas, and she has therefore called on the EU and its Member States to ensure clear and harmonised exceptions to the restrictions for human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, representatives of civil society, and Russian conscientious objectors, with multiple-entry visas where their work requires it. 

Among those present, representing those who still live and work in Russia, was Svetlana Gannushkina, a long-standing human rights activist and founder of the Civic Assistance Committee, who had travelled from Moscow especially for the occasion. “Russian society lives in fear; people are afraid to protest because they see what happens in court,” she said, before going on to describe a country split in two: Moscow, where “people go about their lives as if nothing were happening,” and the regions, where some villages still lack electricity and running water.  

The Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, also focused on living conditions in Russia: inflation close to 6 per cent, interest rates around 15 per cent, cuts to social spending in the regions while all resources are being channelled into the war effort. A situation which, in her view, demonstrates that “the implicit deal that Putin had offered the Russian people—stay out of politics and you will have prosperity and stability—is falling apart.” 

On the aid front, Kos has released the figures for the EU’s commitment. €70 million has been allocated by the EU since 2021 to support independent Russian media and civil society organisations, enabling them to reach significant audiences within the country, counter the Kremlin’s narratives, and provide thousands of legal consultations to those facing repression. However, he warned that we must go beyond emergency support: “We want to move towards a long-term commitment.” 

For the Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius, “the Russian tragedy is an opportunity” because “it could become the driving force behind a transformation,” even though the greatest risk, in his view, “is not the war itself but what comes after it.” Once peace has been restored in Ukraine, he warned, “the West will begin to compete over who will be the first to re-establish good relations with Russia, even before Russia has returned to normality.” The EU’s position, therefore, must be clear: “We will only be able to normalise our relations with Russia if there is a just peace for Ukraine, an end to internal repression, and respect for its neighbours.”

The Vice-President of the European Parliament Pina Picierno was also present in the chamber and referred to the case of the Russian cartoonist Semyon Skrepetsky, who was murdered a few days ago in Poland. “Here in the heart of Europe, discussing the possible political motive behind the murder of an opponent should make us reflect on the nature of this challenge we all face,” she said. “When a dissident is threatened on EU territory, it is not just one person who is under attack. We are putting the EU’s ability to defend its democratic space to the test,” she emphasised. 

To this end, Picierno has revived a proposal by the former Radical MEP Olivier Dupuis, who died on 4 May, for a confidential European list of individuals at risk due to their commitment to democracy and human rights, which would enable “a rapid and efficient response from the relevant authorities in all Member States.”