Russia has blacklisted eight officials from different European Union countries, including the head director of the Estonian Language Inspectorate (Keeleinspektsioon) Ilmar Tomusk.
The Russian foreign ministry announced on Friday that banning another eight EU officials comes in retaliation for sanctions imposed on Russian citizens in the EU in March. The Kremlin also recently placed Estonia, the U.S, the U.K, Latvia, Lithuania, Georgia, Poland, Ukraine and the Czech Republic on its "unfriendly" list.
Altogether, Russia banned three officials from the Baltic states: Ivars Abolins, chairman of Latvia's National Electronic Media Council; Maris Baltins, director of the Latvian State Language Center; and Ilmar Tomusk, head of Estonia's Language Inspectorate, Reuters reported.