UK Prime Minister Theresa May received overwhelming support from the European Union on her response to the spy poisoning scandal
BRUSSELS, Belgium – U. K. Prime Minister Theresa May, who has been fighting an isolated battle in Brussels as Britain plans its exit from the bloc, received overwhelming support from the European Union on her response to the spy poisoning scandal.
The British Prime Minister is said to have held hours of discussion with European leaders over the last two days, reportedly presenting the latest developments in the probe involving a former Russian spy and his daughter – who were both poisoned on British soil with a Soviet-era nerve agent earlier this month.
May is also said to have elaborated on the reasoning behind Britain’s conclusions that the Kremlin was behind the attack in Salisbury, provided the identification of the strain of the nerve agent Novichok which was used in the attack and explain her country’s belief that Russia has produced this substance in the last decade.
At the end of the meeting, EU leaders issued a tough statement effectively blaming Moscow for the nerve agent attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury.
EU leaders, supporting May in her intensifying diplomatic battle with Russia, announced the withdrawal of its ambassador to Moscow for consultations.
Further, France, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Estonia, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic have vowed to take other measures too, prompting speculation that they would expel some Russian diplomats, in a move similar to Britain’s initial response to the attack.
Addressing a joint news conference with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel at the end of the meeting, the French President Emmanuel Macron said, “We consider this attack as a serious challenge to our security and European sovereignty, so it calls for a coordinated and determined response from the European Union and its member states.”
Macron added that the French had been asked for “technical cooperation” by the British in the poisoning case, and had reached similar conclusions about Russian culpability.
“What happened in Great Britain has clearly never been seen before. It is an aggression against the security and the sovereignty of an ally, today a member of the European Union, which demands a reaction.”
Meanwhile, Merkel said she agreed there should be further measures, beyond the recall of the EU’s ambassador to Moscow.
The European Union declared “unqualified solidarity” with Britain and said it agrees with the British assessment that “it is highly likely that the Russian Federation is responsible and that there is no plausible alternative explanation.”
European council president, Donald Tusk said the Russians had stooped to a level to which the EU could never follow, but that it was up to leaders to do what they could to illustrate Europe’s condemnation.
He conceded there were different interests and attitudes to Russia among the member states, and not all would take measures against the Kremlin.
Tusk added, “It is very difficult to prepare an adequate reaction to this kind of behaviour like a nerve agent attack. We will never have the real chance to respond adequately because we are completely different to the perpetrators of this attack, if you know what I mean. This is why I was focused yesterday on for me the most important political goal… to keep the whole community united as possible in this very dramatic moment and situation and we reached this goal… As a result of our decision yesterday I expect a number of member states will take additional measures against Russia on Monday. It is not the end of our actions.”
He said, “In these difficult circumstances I am personally especially pleased that despite the tough Brexit negotiations, the European Union has demonstrated unanimous and unequivocal unity with the UK in the face of this attack.”
In a statement later, May said it was right that European nations were “standing together” because the hostile challenge Russia poses “respects no borders, and it is a threat to our values.”
However, responding to the announcements, Russian president Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitri Peskov said that he “did not know what the heads of the EU states agreed with” when they offered their support to Britain, as Russia was not given any information.
He added in his statement, “We don’t agree with this and repeat that Russia had absolutely nothing to do with the Skripal case.”
In a separate reaction to the announcements, a lawmaker from the United Russia party, Sergei Zheleznyak, said that the European Union was under pressure from London and Washington and “was forced to concoct a statement that is vague in content and politicized in essence.”
Following EU’s announcement meanwhile, Russian intelligence agents and diplomats across the bloc will be expelled next week in response to the use of the nerve agent.
So far, ten EU member states have agreed to order Russian officials to leave, and the number of countries answering the U. K.’s call for action is expected to rise in the coming weeks.
The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov meanwhile accused the U. K. of trying to make “the crisis with Russia as deep as possible.”
He said, „In London, they are feverishly trying to force allies to take confrontational steps.”
