The death of famous 47-year-old Russian foe Alexei Navalny on Friday in an Arctic prison sparked outrage in the West. The EU pointed to the sole responsibility of the “Russian regime” and certain countries cited a crime committed by Vladimir Putin.
• Also read: “Don’t be fooled!”: the testament of Russian opponent Alexei Navalny
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• Also read: Russian opponent Alexei Navalny dies in prison at the age of 47
EU: The Russian “regime” “solely responsible”
The EU holds “the Russian regime” “solely responsible for the tragic death” of Alexei Navalny, said European Council President Charles Michel.
“Alexei Navalny fought for the values of freedom and democracy. He made the ultimate sacrifice for his ideals,” he wrote on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
NATO: Russia “must answer serious questions”
Russia must answer “serious questions” about the death of its political opponent, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on the sidelines of the security conference in Munich.
USA: “Russia is responsible” for Blinken
For the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken, Russia is responsible for the situation that led to the death of Alexei Navalny, which underlines “the weakness and corruption” of Vladimir Putin's system.
American Vice President Kamala Harris said the death of the opponent was “a new sign of brutality” by President Putin.
UN calls for “end to persecution” in Russia
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights was “outraged” by the death of Alexei Navalny and called for an “end to the persecution” in Russia.
Putin: a “monster” for the Canadian prime minister.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called Vladimir Putin a “monster” who will “oppress anyone who fights for the freedom of the Russian people.”
Putin must be punished for Navalny's wife
Vladimir Putin must be “held personally responsible” and “punished” for the atrocities against Alexei Navalny, reacted his wife Julia Navalnaïa from Germany.
For Poland there is no forgiveness for the Kremlin
“Alexei, we will never forget you. And we will never forgive them,” promised Donald Tusk, the Polish Prime Minister on X, as the head of Polish diplomacy, Radoslaw Sikorski, accused Putin of being “responsible” for the death of his opponent.
Estonia castigates a “rogue regime”
The Estonian prime minister condemned the Russian “rogue regime” which she said was responsible for the death of Alexei Navalny.
Latvia: Navalny “brutally murdered by the Kremlin”
Alexei Navalny “was just brutally murdered by the Kremlin, this is a fact and something we need to know about the true nature of the current regime in Russia,” Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics said on x.
Ukraine: Putin must be “accountable,” says Zelensky
“It is obvious to me that (Alexei Navalny), like thousands of others who were tortured to death, was killed because of one person, Putin, who does not care who dies as long as he stays in office,” the Ukrainian president said Volodomir Zelensky Berlin added that Putin “must be held accountable for his crimes.”
Germany: Chancellor Scholz “very sad”
The opponent had “paid for his courage with his life,” complained Chancellor Olaf Scholz and said he was “very sad.”
“It is terrible that a courageous, fearless and committed voice for her country was silenced using terrible methods,” said former Chancellor Angela Merkel, “extremely dismayed.”
United Kingdom: a “huge tragedy” for the Russian people
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak lamented the “great tragedy” that the death of Alexei Navalny represents for the Russian people and praised the “courage” of the “fierce defender of democracy” in Russia.
France: “Anger and indignation”
“In today’s Russia, we lock free spirits in the gulag and sentence them to death,” denounced French President Emmanuel Macron on the X, expressing “anger and indignation.”
Russian Nobel Peace Prize winner Dmitri Muratov denounces “murder”.
“The murder has been added to the sentence against Alexei Navalny,” denounced the editor-in-chief of the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta in a statement from this medium, which was banned in Russia in 2022 in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
For Kasparov, Putin “murdered Navalny slowly and publicly.”
“Putin failed to kill Navalny quickly and secretly by having him poisoned, and now he has murdered him slowly and publicly in prison,” Garry Kasparov said on X. “Navalny was killed because he was Putin and his mafia as had exposed the crooks and thieves who had them.” Are.
Former opposition MP Dmitry Gudkov accuses Putin of “murdering” Navalny
“The death of Alexei Navalny is murder. “Organized by Putin,” Dmitry Goudkov said on social media. “Even if Alexei had died of natural causes, the consequences of his poisoning and subsequent torture would have been in prison.”
For the Russian writer Boris Akunin, Navalny became “immortal.”
“A murdered Alexei Navalny will pose a greater threat to the dictator than a living Alexei Navalny. “The dictator can no longer do anything against Navalny, Navalny is dead and has become immortal,” Russian writer Boris Akunin, who has been in exile since 2014, told AFP. “In the end he will bury Putin.”