(Brussels) Just a few days after the reopening of an institutional communication channel between the European Union and Russia – confirmed by the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, during the latest EU-27 Summit –, the European Parliament is hosting the second edition of the “Brussels Dialogue”. The high-level summit brought together representatives of EU institutions and Russian democratic forces, anti-war activists and civil society representatives. Opening the discussions, President Roberta Metsola recalled the European Parliament’s commitment to supporting “Russian citizens jailed simply for demanding democratic freedoms” and its relentless call for “the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners who remain unjustly imprisoned”. Referring to Andrey Sakharov, Anna Politkovskaya and Alexei Navalny, Vice-President Pina Picierno pointed out in her speech that “democratic ideas often survive because of people who refuse to give in to fear and lies”. The stated aim is to strengthen coordination between national authorities and European institutions to ensure the protection of those at risk by creating a “European list of people exposed to risks due to their commitment to freedom, human rights and democracy”.