Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, will meet European foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday, the EU foreign policy chief said.
The 47-year-old Kremlin critic died in an Arctic prison on Friday after more than three years in prison, sparking anger and condemnation from Western leaders and their supporters.
“On Monday I will welcome Yulia Navalnaya to the EU Foreign Affairs Council,” Josep Borrell said on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday evening.
He said “EU ministers will send a strong message of support to Russia’s freedom fighters” and “memory” Navalny.
Navalnaya, who has not seen her husband for two years, said she held Russian President Vladimir Putin personally responsible and called on the international community to “unite to defeat this evil, terrible regime.”
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Navalnaya’s “remarks will help all of us in Europe better understand what kind of system of violence we have to confront and contain in Ukraine”.
“This will make us aware of the threats faced by Russian citizens and every region of Europe amid the shameful and irresponsible return of violence, brutality and war on this continent,” Tajani said in a statement.
Navalny is Russia’s best-known opposition leader, having won a large following during Putin’s anti-corruption campaign.
Navalnaya supported her husband as he sparked mass protests in Russia, flying him out of the country while he was in a coma after being poisoned and returning to Moscow with him.
Although he was jailed for 19 years, she persisted in her hope of seeing him again.
Putin, who famously never mentioned Navalny’s name, was visiting the Urals on Friday but did not mention Navalny’s death.
However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday accused Western leaders of being “absolutely unacceptable” and “hysterical” in their response to Navalny’s death.
EU foreign ministers’ agenda on Monday also includes talks to formally launch a naval mission to help protect international shipping in the Red Sea from attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, EU officials said last week.