In what looked like a coordinated move to honour the life and achievements of Boris Nemtsov, both the European Parliament and the US Senate passed resolutions paying tribute to one of Russia’s leading opposition figures.

European Parliament

The European Union’s most senior diplomat joined members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg this week to pay tribute to Boris Nemtsov and to highlight the increasingly dire state of the rule of law in Russia.

Speaking in a debate on a resolution drafted by MEPs condemning the assassination of Nemtsov on 27 February, a killing that took place in direct view of the Kremlin, Federica Mogherini, the EU’s high representative for foreign policy, drew attention to Nemtsov’s progressive and fearless approach to politics.

“We shared a sense of not only loss but of indignation,” she said. “We shall remember Boris as a strong advocate for a modern, democratic, open Russia. He defended values we all share – respect for human dignity, commitment to democracy, to accountability and belief in civil society as a force. He was opposed to the war in Ukraine and he was gathering evidence of the involvement of Russian troops. Russian citizens deserve no less than a democratic and open Russia.”

“Russian citizens deserve no less than a democratic and open Russia.”

Many MEPS paid tribute not only to Nemtsov, but also to the bravery of the Russian opposition in the face of a repressive and vengeful Kremlin.

Heidi Hautala, an MEP from Finland, quoted Nemtsov’s remarks when he visited the European Parliament in February 2011, saying: “Putin killed the democratic state”.

After what was a “tragic and undoubtedly political” murder, she said the EU should press for “more and more visible contact” with the opposition in Russia, praising “the incredible courage of the democratic Russian opposition.”

Gabrielius Landsbergis, MEP from Lithuania, who is drafting a major parliamentary report on EU-Russia relations, said that Nemtsov’s killing “might bring the Kremlin ever closer to the point of no return” and added that the “the Kremlin is responsible for creating an atmosphere of hatred, impunity, unlawfulness and terror.”

Dutch MEP Hans van Baalen, a former president of Liberal International, spoke of Nemtsov’s deep links to the liberal movement across Europe, and said that his legacy should be a dialogue with Russians that reaches past the Kremlin.

“What we should do is to talk with Russians and with human rights organisations because, on the one hand, we have sanctions – and they should stay – but, on the other hand, we are reaching out to the ordinary people in Russia.”

“What we should do is to talk with Russians and with human rights organisations”.

The resolution mentions Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s imprisonment as one of many cases that have “cast doubt on the independence and impartiality of the judicial institutions of the Russian Federation”, but says that such cases “are merely the most well-known cases outside Russia of what amounts to a systematic failure by the Russian state to uphold the rule of law and to deliver justice to its citizens.”

The resolution was passed by acclamation on Thursday 12 March.

US Senate

On Wednesday March 11, in Washington, only a day before the European Parliament resolution was passed in Brussels, the US Senate also passed a resolution honouring the life of Boris Nemtsov. The strongly worded resolution was sponsored by 20 senators, and paid tribute to “Mr. Nemtsov [who] dedicated his life to the cause of freedom and human rights for the Russian people and sought to rid Russia’s government of the corruption that fuels authoritarianism”

President Barack Obama called Boris Nemtsov a “tireless advocate” for the rights of Russian citizens.

In addition to remembering Nemtsov, the resolution summarises many of the issues that Russia is facing today, and:

• Recognises Nemtsov’s courageous work
• Calls for a swift and transparent investigation
• Urges the US President to add the names Nemtsov had requested to the Magnitsky List
• Calls on the US President to increase support for like-minded partners in Russia and the region to combat the flow of propaganda and the climate of hatred created by President Putin

Read the full text of the US Senate resolution here.