Vladimir Plotnikov is a member of the Russian Parliament and is on the EU sanctions list. But that doesn’t seem to bother the politician: despite the entry ban, he’s vacationing in Croatia and Italy.
He’s standing there in slippers and a designer shirt in a lobby of the “Kempinksi Hotel Adriatic” in Istria (Crotia): Vladimir Plotnikov is obviously enjoying his vacation in the EU. But the Duma politician is staying there illegally because he is on the EU sanctions list.
Like many others, the politician spoke out in favor of recognizing the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Luhansk and Donetsk as independent. For this he was sanctioned by the EU. His assets in the EU are frozen – and there is an entry ban.
So Plotnikov is staying in the EU illegally. His daughter “betrayed” him: Sonia Plotnikova posted pictures on Instagram together with her father, including during a boat trip in Venice or from the hotel in Croatia. Plotnikova is followed by more than a hundred thousand users on Instagram.
How Plotnikov managed to enter the EU despite the entry ban is unclear. Volker Boehme-Neßler, Professor of European Law at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, told the “t-online” portal: “It can be a glitch, negligence – or corruption”. The police in Croatia or Italy would have to “arrest Plotnikov immediately, escort him to the border and deport him,” said Boehme-Neßler.
Both countries could also be warned or even sued by the EU Commission, because they also break applicable EU law.
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