Today, EU member countries that want to protect their sovereignty have no choice but to leave the bloc, as the principle of unanimous decision-making is being rejected and EU countries are being denied their right to veto, which means individual countries' and citizens' opinions will no longer be respected, Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said on Friday. 

"Millions of Europeans will be denied their right to vote, and their countries will lose sovereignty for good. If the current EU members want to protect their sovereignty and the interests of their citizens, they have no other option but to withdraw from the European Union," Volodin said on his Telegram channel.

The proposals put forward by the European Parliament seeking to reform the EU mean that "European unity is collapsing."

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"Among other things, a decision has been endorsed to deactivate the principle of making major decisions unanimously. In other words, it is proposed that EU members be denied their right to veto. The opinions of individual countries - and of their citizens, too - will no longer be respected," Volodin added.

The situation around the introduction of sanctions against Russia shows that EU member countries lack unity on the issue, he emphasized.

"That’s why they have to search for new ways of enacting their decisions with the principle that has worked for many years being cast aside," the Duma speaker said.

He went on to say that the attempts would imply a loss of sovereignty for EU member countries. However, the question of who will be held accountable "for the citizens of a country if decisions being taken without considering them cause price growth, a greater rise in unemployment, and economic issues," he concluded.

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