{"id":457739,"date":"2026-06-23T14:39:01","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T12:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/06\/23\/in-russia-4mila-prigionieri-politici-e-1-200-agenti-stranieri-lue-il-patto-di-putin-col-popolo-sta-cadendo\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T16:33:54","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T14:33:54","slug":"there-are-4000-political-prisoners-and-1200-foreign-agents-in-russia-the-eu-putins-pact-with-the-people-is-falling-apart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/06\/23\/there-are-4000-political-prisoners-and-1200-foreign-agents-in-russia-the-eu-putins-pact-with-the-people-is-falling-apart\/","title":{"rendered":"There are 4,000 political prisoners and 1,200 “foreign agents” in Russia. The EU: \u201cPutin\u2019s pact with the people is falling apart\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels \u2013 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 <\/span>Brussels Dialogue<\/span><\/a><\/span>, 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. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As explained by Ville Niinist\u00f6<\/strong>\u2014a Finnish MEP for the Greens
\nand one of the main rapporteurs on the European regulation for the phasing out
\nof Russian gas\u2014when he opened the proceedings, the aim of the conference is
\nalso to \u201cprovide European decision-makers with a clear understanding of
\ndevelopments within Russia,\u201d and to \u201cidentify how the European Union can best
\nsupport those who promote human rights and are working to end Russia\u2019s war of
\naggression against Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Russia, Mariana Katzarova<\/strong>, explained that \u201cthe machinery of repression has not stopped for a single month\u201d since her last report to the UN Human Rights Council. Over 1,200 individuals and organisations have been labelled \u201cforeign agents\u201d in Russia, and more than 350 organisations have been banned as \u201cundesirable\u201d<\/strong>. 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<\/strong>, nearly a third of whom are Ukrainian citizens. Torture is \u201cwidespread and systematic,\u201d with hundreds of cases documented. More than a hundred minors are currently detained on political or terrorism-related charges. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Katzarova then cited a telling example: the journalist and activist Marija Ponomarenko<\/strong>, 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\u2019s forthcoming multiannual financial framework, described as \u201ca test of human rights\u201d because \u201cif the EU recognises that repression in Russia is structural, then support for those resisting it must also become structural<\/strong><\/span>.\u201d 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 \u201ca clear, visible and predictable framework, not a fragmented set of short-term grants.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The rapporteur then took the opportunity to issue a direct warning to the European Parliament regarding the new EU Return Regulation<\/a>. \u201cEU countries cannot simply outsource their human rights obligations\u201d because this entails \u201ca high risk of violations against vulnerable detainees, including minors,\u201d she noted. And, addressing the people in the chamber directly, she emphasised: \u201cI truly hope that none of the Russian dissidents and human rights defenders sitting here today end up tomorrow in one of these hubs<\/strong>, on their way to deportation, torture, and imprisonment in Russia.\u201d  <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/strong> for human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, representatives of civil society, and Russian conscientious objectors, with multiple-entry visas where their work requires it. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Among those present, representing those who still live and work in Russia, was Svetlana Gannushkina<\/strong>, a long-standing human rights activist and founder of the Civic Assistance Committee, who had travelled from Moscow especially for the occasion. \u201cRussian society lives in fear; people are afraid to protest because they see what happens in court,\u201d she said, before going on to describe a country split in two: Moscow, where \u201cpeople go about their lives as if nothing were happening,\u201d and the regions, where some villages still lack electricity and running water. <\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

The Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos<\/strong>, 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<\/strong>. A situation which, in her view, demonstrates that \u201cthe implicit deal that Putin had offered the Russian people\u2014stay out of politics and you will have prosperity and stability\u2014is falling apart.\u201d<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

On the aid front, Kos has released the figures for the EU\u2019s commitment. \u20ac70 million has been allocated by the EU since 2021 to support independent Russian media and civil society organisations<\/strong>, enabling them to reach significant audiences within the country, counter the Kremlin\u2019s narratives, and provide thousands of legal consultations to those facing repression. However, he warned that we must go beyond emergency support: \u201cWe want to move towards a long-term commitment.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

For the Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius<\/strong>, \u201cthe Russian tragedy is an opportunity\u201d because \u201cit could become the driving force behind a transformation,\u201d even though the greatest risk, in his view, \u201cis not the war itself but what comes after it.\u201d Once peace has been restored in Ukraine, he warned, \u201cthe 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.\u201d The EU\u2019s position, therefore, must be clear: \u201cWe 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<\/strong><\/span>.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The Vice-President of the European Parliament Pina Picierno <\/strong><\/span>was also present in the chamber and<\/span><\/span><\/strong> referred to the case of the Russian cartoonist Semyon Skrepetsky<\/strong>, who was murdered a few days ago in Poland. \u201cHere 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,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen a dissident is threatened on EU territory, it is not just one person who is under attack. We are putting the EU\u2019s ability to defend its democratic space to the test,\u201d she emphasised.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n

To this end, Picierno has revived a proposal by the former Radical MEP Olivier Dupuis<\/strong>, who died on 4 May<\/a>, for a confidential European list of individuals at risk due to their commitment to democracy and human rights, which would enable \u201ca rapid and efficient response from the relevant authorities in all Member States.\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Brussels, representatives of Russian civil society, in dialogue with the European Parliament, have spoken of domestic repression, inflation nearing 6 per cent, interest rates of around 15 per cent and cuts to social spending, while resources are being diverted to the war effort<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7911,"featured_media":457674,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[30809,29788,25681,25707],"tags":[34570,28074,34571,26130,25803,33394,30781],"class_list":["post-457739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-defence-security","category-diritti-en","category-politics","category-world-politics","tag-brussels-dialogue","tag-commissione-en","tag-dissidenti","tag-rights-en","tag-russia-in-2","tag-ue","tag-ukraine-in-2"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7911"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457739"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457739\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":457740,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457739\/revisions\/457740"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/457674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}