The European Parliament has declared illegal amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation

This is stated in the resolution of the European Parliament adopted on the situation with the poisoning of the Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny.

“The European Parliament calls on the EU to demand from Russia to cancel or revise changes in all laws that are contrary to international standards, including repealing or revising the illegally adopted recent changes in the Constitution, changes in electoral legislation, laws on foreign agents and undesirable organizations, in order to promote pluralism. free and fair elections, as well as the creation of equal conditions for opposition candidates”, - is underlined in the resolution of the European Parliament.

The European Parliament explained that Russia, being members of the Council of Europe and the OSCE, has undertaken obligations to respect fundamental freedoms and human rights. Earlier, the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe has already recognized that the constitutional reform in Russia violates the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights. The experts recommended revising the amendments to Article 79, which deals with human rights and relations with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). In particular, under this article, Russia may not comply with those decisions of interstate bodies that would contradict the Constitution of the Russian Federation. By the way, every year by the summer Russia runs out of money to pay compensation to Russians who have suffered from the actions of the security forces. Payments are made in cases that Russia lost in the ECHR. The Venice Commission added that by joining the Council of Europe and ratifying the Convention on Human Rights, Russia pledged to comply with the decisions of the ECHR.

Earlier, the adoption of amendments to the Constitution of the Russian Federation was criticized by the head of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Jim Risch. “This is a fake vote disguised as a referendum that erased the remnants of Putin's legitimacy and democracy in Russia. The people of this country deserve the best”б - he wrote on his Twitter.

In a resolution adopted on Thursday, the European Parliament "strongly condemned the assassination attempt on Navalny's life," which they thus tried to "silence," and expressed concern about Russia’s not the first attempt to use poison against its residents. The European Parliament recalled that the use of chemical weapons in any circumstances violates international agreements, and called for an immediate international investigation involving the EU, UN, Council of Europe and the OPCW, as well as to strengthen EU sanctions against Russia.