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Opposition politicians are currently being dealt with at the Berlin Charite.
© APA (AFP)
NATO condemns the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexej Navalny as a serious violation of international law and demands that Russia consent to international investigations. Statements from NATO headquarters in Brussels and the president of the EU Council on Friday indicated, however, that it is not yet clear how Russia might react to the unwillingness to provide information.
The Kremlin continues to reject any involvement in the case and does not assess the evidence as clearly as Germany and many other countries. According to investigations by a special Bundeswehr laboratory, the German government considers that it is beyond doubt that Navalny was poisoned with the military neurotoxin Novitschok. The opposition politician suddenly fell into a coma on a flight over Russia on August 20 and was later transferred to the Berlin Charité at the insistence of his family. According to the Charité, his health is still serious.
“The Russian government must cooperate fully with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in the context of an impartial international investigation,” demanded NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, after unscheduled consultations with the ambassadors of the US states. alliance. “Those responsible must be held accountable and brought to justice.” The act is not only an attack on an individual, but also a serious violation of international law, which requires an international response.
The Norwegian left open the question whether NATO could withdraw the accreditation of the employees of the Russian NATO mission, as in the Skripal case. There are parallels because of the type of neurotoxin used, Stoltenberg said. At the same time, the cases also differ, among other things, because Navalny, as a Russian citizen, was attacked in Russia.
However, the nerve poison attack on former Russian double agent Sergej Skripal was carried out in 2018 in Great Britain, and thus on NATO territory. At that time, the alliance had seven employees of the Russian NATO mission expelled and the maximum size of the Russian delegation to NATO was limited to 30 to 20 people.
On Friday, Germany and France once again called on Russia to investigate the Navalny poisoning. Those responsible should be brought to justice, according to a joint statement by Foreign Ministers Heiko Maas and Jean-Yves Le Drian. The attack on Navalny was a “very serious violation of the fundamental principles of democracy and political pluralism.”
The United States was also “deeply concerned.” The use of such a chemical weapon by Russia would be a clear violation of obligations under the Chemical Weapons Convention, the US State Department said on Friday. Deputy Foreign Minister Stephen Biegun briefed Russia’s Ambassador to the United States, Anatoliy Antonov. Biegun urged Russia to fully cooperate with the international community to resolve the case.
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) offered assistance with education on Thursday. Under the Chemical Weapons Convention, poisoning a person with a nerve gas is evaluated as the use of chemical weapons, he said.
After the European Union openly threatened Russia with sanctions on Thursday night, Council President Charles Michel announced a debate on Friday on the consequences of the “assassination attempt.” After the EU foreign ministers, heads of state and government could also take care of it, he told various European news agencies in an interview. The fact that German Chancellor Angela Merkel, with the support of other EU politicians, gave Navalny help right away was “a strong European statement.”
On Friday, Austria appointed the Russian ambassador to the Foreign Ministry in Vienna. Dmitri Ljubinski was clearly briefed on Austria’s position in line with the EU line, a spokeswoman for the APA Foreign Ministry said. Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) once again called for a transparent investigation and clarification of the case.
After his conversation with the political director of the Foreign Ministry, Gregor Kössler, the Russian ambassador abruptly rejected that demand that night. “In view of the lack of information, facts and concrete data on the part of Germany, I consider the request to Russia for a quick, transparent and complete clarification inappropriate,” Lyubinsky wrote on Facebook late in the afternoon.
Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) was cautious in Friday’s Ö1-Mittagsjournal regarding a possible moratorium on the German-Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which is currently being discussed in Germany, and the Austrian MVNO it is also involved in financing. He understood the discussion, he said. “But I don’t know if this is a suitable medium,” he added. However, the discussion must take place.
The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is intended to transport natural gas across the Baltic Sea from Russia to Central Europe. The German government also leaves open how it will deal with the nearly completed pipeline project. Government spokesman Steffen Seibert declined to repeat an earlier statement by Merkel on Friday that the Navalny case and the future of Nord Stream 2 should be viewed separately. Merkel had made this statement before reporting publicly on Wednesday about the clear findings from the Bundeswehr laboratory and Navalny’s “poisoning attempt.”
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