Russian Party Seeks to Impose Travel Restrictions on Relatives of Senior Officials

The Russian news agency reported today, Sunday, that the hardline Liberal Democratic Party is preparing a draft law that would temporarily ban the travel of relatives of high-ranking officials to "unfriendly countries." The agency quoted State Duma Deputy Sergey Karginov as saying that the restrictions could apply to law enforcement officers, judges, senior executives of state companies, members of the Central Bank's board, and others. Karginov stated, "Right now, when Russia has to face a number of Western countries led by the United States, which caused the outbreak of conflict in Ukraine, such trips are not only rejected but also dangerous." Russia considers all countries that imposed sanctions on Moscow due to its military campaign in Ukraine as "unfriendly." Despite its name, the Liberal Democratic Party has adopted a hardline nationalist approach since its establishment in 1991, calling for Russia to reoccupy countries that were part of the former Soviet Union. It remains unclear when the party will present the draft law to the State Duma for discussion.