mr president i would like to inform european citizens that last week the deputy permanent representative of the russian federation to the european union warned me that the european parliament should neither have a debate nor adopt a resolution on the rule of law in russia this week and that if this should happen it would provoke a strong reaction from the kremlin
colleagues i wonder if i am the only member whom russian diplomats have tried to influence in such a manner
the actions of this particular russian diplomat are frankly shocking and not in line with good diplomatic practices
it sounds rather like a threat
i would like to assure you that we the members of this freely and democratically elected parliament cannot and shall not follow the dictates of the kremlin
we are not to be pushed around by putin
we are europeans who stand for real values and will not succumb to threats from anyone
