Ukrainian Government Bans Steven Seagal as Threat to National Security

Former action star Steven Seagal is being blacklisted by the Ukrainian government. Officials released a letter labeling Seagal a national security threat. Ukraine has officially banned former action star, Steven Seagal from entering the country for 5 years.

The letter said such a decision is made when a person has “committed socially dangerous actions … that contradict the interests of maintaining Ukraine’s security”. The move comes after the actor received citizenship in Russia, which has backed separatists in a simmering conflict in eastern Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin handed Seagal a Russian passport and told him he hoped their “personal relationship will remain and continue” during a meeting in the Kremlin last year.

Seagal is known for his love of the former Soviet Union and having good times with rich friends. Be it playing a concert at a pro-Putin biker bar club or riding horses in full traditional Kyrgyzstan armor, or eating carrots with Belarus aristocrat, Alexander Lukashenko, Seagal is just one bad boy up to no good.

He has eaten carrots with “Europe’s last dictator” Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus, ridden a horse in a suit of armour at the Nomad Games in Kyrgyzstan and taken part in a traditional dance while visiting Chechnya strongman Ramzan Kadyrov. But Seagal’s outspoken support for Putin and his policies have earned the enmity of the Ukrainian authorities. The actor called Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine “reasonable”. He later played with his blues bandat a concert in Crimea put on by a pro-Putin biker club, with the flag of eastern Ukraine separatists flying onstage.

Ukrainian officials have every right to disagree with Steven Seagal’s personal remarks on Eastern European political tensions. Perhaps, Seagal is indeed something of a threat to Ukrainian officials. However, it certainly does seem rather ironic that a country claiming to fight for democracy and individual sovereignty is labeling Seagal a national security threat merely for publicly expressing his personal opinions.

Source: The Guardian