Foreign Policy
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-05
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Seán Ó Fearghaíl (FF), Kildare South

For the past four years, the world has been focused on Russian aggression and the appalling war in Ukraine perpetrated on a foreign, sovereign people by the megalomaniac that is Putin. We have lost sight of what may be happening within Russia itself, and that is understandable. When we think of opposition in Russia, we think of the late, brave Alexei Navalny, whose second anniversary will be marked next week. We are aware of the commitments and the strength of his wife Yulia in the aftermath of his death and her commitment to carry on the campaign. Prosecutors in Russia have banned 78 organisations as undesirable, including prominent human rights groups. Human Rights Watch itself was designated undesirable. What we can do on our own is very limited. Will the Minister of State tell us the degree to which there is active engagement between ourselves and our European partners to support opposition and to support civil society organisations in Russia?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-05/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:36+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-05