Russian MPs are no longer allowed to travel freely
Russian deputies and senators are no longer allowed to travel freely abroad without permission. If deputies, who sometimes have access to sensitive information or even state secrets, go on vacation abroad without permission, they risk losing their mandate. The State Duma has now passed such a law.
Previously, there had been criticism in Russia about trips by deputies abroad, which had also published pictures of their luxury tours on social media, while many of their compatriots were in military service at the front in Ukraine, getting injured or dying. Russian deputies and senators of the Federation Council must now obtain permission for travel abroad. With the exception of official trips, they may hardly be able to travel privately abroad without restrictions in the future.
The initiators of the law also pointed out that, for example, sanctions against a large number of individuals exist in the EU and the mandate holders there could be persecuted. They argued that travel restrictions were not only necessary for the protection of deputies themselves, but also in the interest of the Russian state.
For example, Ukraine has issued judgments against a series of Russian mandate holders with lengthy prison sentences in absentia; Russian citizens therefore risked arrest by Interpol abroad, it was said. Parliament Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin also called for a law to be drafted that would ban deputies and senators from traveling abroad for several years after their departure from office.
For state officials with access to secrets, such restrictions apply for a period of five years. "If someone is taking a vacation in Russia, at Lake Baikal or on the Volga, that's something to be welcomed," said Volodin. "But if it's about islands - the Maldives or Bali - colleagues, nothing personal, that's not right for the country and the voters," Volodin said in the background for the new law.
Deputy Vitaly, a Russian Member of Parliament, was planning his vacation abroad, but he realized the need for Authorization due to the recent law. Without following the necessary procedures, he could potentially lose his mandate, just like other deputies who had done the same in the past.
