Britain seeks European help against Russian spy networks
GARNERING SUPPORT: May goes to Brussels in search of support after Salisbury
BRUSSELS: Britain is seeking help from other European countries to take action against Russian spy networks that could be preparing similar attacks to the nerve agent assault on a former Russian spy in England, diplomats said.
Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May was to urge joint action among European Union states at a summit in Brussels on Thursday, where she would also try to persuade the bloc’s leaders to condemn Russia squarely over the attack in Salisbury.
“Russia staged a brazen and reckless attack against the United Kingdom,” May told reporters on arriving at the summit.
“It’s clear that the Russian threat does not respect borders and indeed the incident in Salisbury was a pattern of Russian aggression against Europe and its near neighbours.”
May accused Russia of the first known offensive use of a nerve toxin in Europe since World War II after Sergei Skripal, a former Russian double agent, and his daughter were found unconscious on a public bench in the English city on March 4.
In the worst crisis between the two powers since the Cold War, May has expelled 23 Russian diplomats whom she says were spies working under cover. Moscow, which has denied involvement in the attack, has taken retaliatory steps.
Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said she was already considering expelling Russian spies from her territory.
“Britain says there are these networks that organise such things like Salisbury, that these networks exist across our borders and that it would be good to go after them together,” a senior EU diplomat said. “They have been approaching EU states on that bilaterally and today May will tell EU leaders more.”
Diplomats stressed May was not seeking a formal or immediate EU strategy because the bloc has little joint competence on intelligence, meaning any such work would be done directly with other governments.
“There is movement among several willing states to do something together in reaction to Skripal,” said another EU diplomat, adding that this would be done bilaterally outside the EU so as not to press too hard those members of the bloc who are more worried about their ties with Moscow.
Reluctance from countries — Greece and Hungary among them — means a draft joint statement by EU leaders now says only that they take “extremely seriously” London’s assessment that it was highly likely Russia was responsible for the attack.
But May will push fellow EU leaders to blame Moscow directly for the poisoning of the Skripals who British authorities say have been critically ill since the attack by a Soviet-produced military-grade nerve agent called Novichok.
Russia’s ambassador to London on Thursday said that, had Novichok been used, the Skripals would have died.
European Council President Donald Tusk, who will chair the summit and has sided with Britain, said: “It is clear we should improve our preparedness for future attacks.”
He wants the bloc to discuss how to better protect itself from chemical and biological attacks.