EU urges Russia to drop vegetable ban immediately

The European Commission called on Russia on Thursday to immediately withdraw a ban on vegetables from the European Union that was imposed by Moscow over fears of a mysterious deadly bacteria.

The commission said it “protested to the Russian Federation this afternoon against the Russian ban imposed earlier today on all EU vegetable exports to Russia, and requested the immediate withdrawal of the measure.”

The complaint was lodged in a letter from EU health commissioner John Dalli to the Russian authorities, the commission said.