You're reading: Russia to consider disclosure of blacklisted EU names – ministry

MOSCOW - Russia is ready to consider disclosure of the names of blacklisted EU individuals.

“Emerging altercations, such as this case, make us think on this subject,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Meshkov said, answering an Interfax question as to whether Russia would disclose its blacklists as requested by Germany in connection with the ban on travel to Russia of parliament deputy Karl-Georg Wellmann.

“We think that our policy protecting personal data of individuals banned from visiting Russia has been more correct than the policy of Western partners who made certain names known to the entire world,” the deputy minister said.

However, a person suspecting that he or she may be ‘blacklisted’ by Russia can find this out at any Russian consular mission abroad, he said. “Speaking of the persons on our list, they can definitely find out whether they belong to this category if they appeal to any Russian consular department abroad,” Meshkov said.

As reported earlier, German parliament deputy Karl-Georg Wellmann (the Christian-Democratic Union) had been banned from visiting Russia until 2019. The deputy was told about that only when he arrived in the Moscow Sheremetyevo airport last Sunday.

The German Embassy in Moscow lodged a formal protest with the Russian Foreign Ministry. The media said Berlin had also urged Russia to disclose its ‘blacklists’ of citizens of EU states and some other countries that had imposed sanctions in Russia over the events in Ukraine.