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The poisoning of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny threatens to sever relations between Germany and Russia forever. Moscow turns against Berlin and seems to be looking for escalation.
Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny is being treated at the Charité hospital in Berlin. Russia attacks the findings of German doctors head-on.
The long column of vehicles that Alexei Navalny brought from Berlin-Tegel airport to the Charité University Hospital almost three weeks ago seemed an indicator of Russia to many: the German government spared no effort to protect the life of the most famous opposition politician and activist Russian anti-corruption. to rescue. The Kremlin’s rejection and the opaque coming and going of doctors at the hospital in the Siberian provincial city of Omsk seemed even more cynical. From the perspective of the Russian leadership, it may not be desirable to allow Navalny to travel abroad in this condition. Germany, the western European country with close and complex ties to Russia, was probably the least of the evils.
Serious accusations and threats
Therefore, the Kremlin was not so prepared that the German government spoke quickly of poisoning. Immediately all those voices in the Russian propaganda machine came into action that third parties saw at work or even the Germans themselves. Evidence from a Bundeswehr laboratory that it was poisoning with a chemical warfare agent from the Novitschok group, its use directly pointing to a Russian secret service, angered Moscow even more. The fact that Chancellor Angela Merkel herself appeared in front of the press and bluntly formulated her expectations about Russia may also have contributed to this.
In the hitherto solid Russian-German relationship, everything suddenly seems possible. At least that’s how it reads in the press release issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry after a two-hour conversation between the First Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov and Géza Andreas von Geyr, the German ambassador in Moscow. It is written with an absolutely unusual sharpness between Moscow and Berlin. There is talk of “unfounded accusations and ultimatums against Russia” in the Navalny case, which are being used as a “pretext to discredit our country on the international stage”, and of hysteria.
In a threatening tone, Russia calls on Germany to grant the request for legal assistance and to submit “all medical findings, including biological samples, findings and test samples.” If this does not happen, Russia views this as a refusal to establish the truth and the objective investigation of the circumstances and all previous and future actions in the Navalny case as a “serious hostile provocation” that has far-reaching consequences for the Russian-German relationship and serious damage to the international. Relationships will occur.
Moscow is turning the tables
Chancellor Sergei Lavrov had previously complained about the utterly inappropriate tone used by the German government to inform the world about the events. His spokesman accused the German authorities of a “hoax”. This reflects the audacity with which Moscow is now turning the tables: not Russia, where the crime took place, at least with the help of a very specific, internationally banned agent, but Germany, which Navalny accepted for treatment and an uncomfortable finding for the Kremlin. from the Russian point of view it is a must. The brusqueness of the tone seems to be justified compared to Berlin, while Lavrov was much more bland, but also refused to have clear expectations of Merkel and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas.
There is no predictable relaxation. Ambassador von Geyr conveyed the German position to Titov that it was up to Russia to explain the use of the war agent developed in Russia. The request for mutual assistance was also sent to the competent authorities. Germany will hardly comply with Moscow’s demands to send the details of the laboratory tests, for security reasons, but also because there is a fear that Russia could falsify the information received and use it for propaganda purposes. The weekly “Die Zeit” reported that a new Novitschok development had been used against Navalny. Moscow also does not like the fact that the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons was involved. Russia considers them biased. The news that broke Thursday that Navalny is progressing faster than expected in health is likely to give wings to those who doubt the Novichok mission.
Russia feels free
For German-Russian relations, if the clarity of the statements does not remain a theatrical thunder, it cannot mean anything good. Politically, mutual trust had barely existed since Russia’s interference in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea. But if the Kremlin really regards Germany’s actions as a “hostile provocation”, it shouldn’t stop pouting. This is even more true in the event that Germany decides to withdraw from the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project or at least temporarily suspend it. The symbolic power that has long been attributed to this project outweighs the economic benefit. If the Germans put an end to it, the latest illusion of cooperation would disappear, a commentator recently said.
From the Russian point of view, the behavior of Germany in the Navalny case means a great interference in the internal affairs of the country. With the constitutional vote last summer, it appears to have finally entered a phase where the Russian leadership has freed itself from any consideration for international obligations, reputation and potential consequences. Putin’s Russia feels free, internally and externally, to act as it wishes to achieve its geopolitical goals. As a consequence, Timofei Bordatschow called on the pro-government think tank Waldai-Klub to withdraw not only from new energy projects with Germany, but also from all institutions and systems that serve the interests of the United States and Europe in response to the behavior of West.
