In the presence of his wife Yulia Navalnaya, the European Parliament honoured the legacy of Alexei Navalny. In her address, the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola said that Navalny represented hope. "Hope in better days. Hope in a free Russia. Hope in the future."
Dear members, Dear colleagues,
We gather here today to pay tribute to Alexei Navalny, in the presence of his brave wife Yulia Navalnaya.
Yulia, thank you for your readiness to speak in this chamber to the world in such painful circumstances. It is an honour to welcome you to the European Parliament.
On the 16th of February we received the tragic news of Sakharov Prize laureate Alexei Navalny’s death. For many in Russia and outside, he represented hope. Hope in better days. Hope in a free Russia. Hope in the future.
Hope that courage can overcome. And while his killers sought to cruelly extinguish that hope, they failed. The hope he represented remains as bright as ever.
This House and its members condemn his killing in the strongest possible terms. It is a crime that deserves an international and independent investigation. The world is owed justice.
While we pay tribute to his memory, I want to express our deepest condolences to you dear Yulia, to your children Daria and Zakhar, to Alexei’s parents Lyudmila and Anatoly, to his family, friends and countless supporters in Russia and across the globe. Alexei Navalny dedicated his life to the fight against corruption and for a democratic Russia. He did not give up when they tried to poison him. He did not give up when he was unjustly imprisoned. He did not give up when his sentence was extended in a sham trial. He did not give up even when confronted with suffering and injustice. And neither must we.
Democracy takes bravery, and Alexei understood that. That is why he went back to Russia in 2021. That’s why he could not be broken.
And that is exactly what made the regime so afraid of him. But Alexei’s fight endures. The many brave people that took to the streets of Russia after his death, shows - yet again - the fragility of authoritarianism.
I take solace in that fact that if history teaches us anything, it is that the pillars of autocracy, in the end, always, always, crumble under the weight of its own corruption and people’s inherent desire to live freely. And when they inevitably do, it will be thanks to what Alexei and your family did.
Dear Yulia, on behalf of the European Parliament that stands in admiration of your courage, I thank you. The floor is yours. You can read the President's speech in Russian here.