Kyrgyz Parliament Bans Zhirinovsky From Entering Country

Russian nationalist politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky

Kyrgyzstan’s parliament has declared Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky persona non grata and banned him from entering the country.

The parliament passed the measure on May 15 by a majority of 67 deputies in the 120-seat chamber.

The decision to ban Zhirinovsky, who is the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, comes after he proposed in the Russian state Duma that Bishkek hand over the mountainous lake of Issyk Kul to Russia in exchange for a write-off of Kyrgyzstan’s some $ 500 million in debts to Moscow.

With reporting by Itar-Tass