Brussels, Feb 19 (AFP/APP):Alexei Navalny’s widow will meet European foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, EU officials announced, as Russian courts jailed dozens of people detained at events commemorating the Kremlin critic.
The 47-year-old opposition leader died in an Arctic prison on Friday after spending more than three years behind bars, prompting outrage and condemnation from Western leaders and his supporters.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he would welcome Yulia Navalnaya to the bloc’s Foreign Affairs Council on Monday.
“EU Ministers will send a strong message of support to freedom fighters in Russia” and “honour” Navalny’s memory, he added on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday.
Navalny was Russia’s most prominent opposition leader and garnered a huge following as he campaigned against corruption under President Vladimir Putin.
In the hours following the announcement that her husband had died, Navalnaya, who had not seen him in two years, said she held Putin personally responsible.
She called on the international community to “unite and defeat this evil, terrifying regime”.
Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Navalnaya’s words “will make us feel the threat that weighs on Russian citizens and on every region of our Europe”, where “violence, brutality, and war have been shamefully and irresponsibly returned”.
