Now 20 nations could kick out Russian spies in victory for PM
THERESA May used a British intelligence briefing to persuade EU leaders to hit back at Russia following the Salisbury nerve agent attack.
Up to 20 European countries are now considering kicking out Russian spies after the Prime Minister led a four-hour discussion over dinner in Brussels to convince them of Moscow’s guilt.
It was the same evidence that failed to persuade Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to pin the blame on the Kremlin.
The response came as 23 British diplomats were applauded by colleagues as they left Moscow yesterday in a tit-for-tat expulsion in response to the UK ejecting the same number of Russians.
But the Kremlin is now braced for the mass expulsion of its spies from Europe after Mrs May used the summit to pull off a diplomatic triumph on Thursday night.
A diplomatic source said she convinced leaders there was a ‘smoking gun’ linking Moscow directly to the attempted murder of former Russian agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia on March 4. French President Emmanuel Macron, who helped convince wavering countries such as Greece, Italy and Bulgaria, described the poisoning as ‘an attack on European sovereignty’.
He added: ‘What has happened in Britain is unprecedented... and demands a reaction.’
As a first step, the EU yesterday recalled its ambassador to Moscow in protest at the attack. Diplomatic sources said Russia now faced a wave of co- ordinated action by EU countries, which could begin as early as Monday.
It is understood between 15 and 20 EU countries could eventually take part. France, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, Estonia, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Denmark, Lithuania and Poland have already given their backing to the plan to kick out Russian agents.
Angela Merkel said Germany would also consider ‘ further measures’ against Russia.
Bulgaria’s prime minister Boyko Borisov, one of several leaders won round by Mrs May, warned: ‘We find ourselves at times worse than the Cold War. During the Cold War there were rules. Now I am not optimistic for the peaceful future of the world.’
European Council president Donald Tusk said countries would announce more measures on Monday. He acknowledged it was ‘not always easy’ to get co-ordinated action against Russia but said differences over Brexit would not prevent a united response.
Mr Tusk added: ‘It is not the end of our actions. In these difficult circumstances I’m personally especially pleased that despite the tough Brexit negotiations, the EU has demonstrated unequivocal unity with the UK.’
Going into the summit, several countries indicated they were unwilling to point the finger at Moscow for the Salisbury attack until Mrs May managed to convince them to unanimously sign up to the British position.
UK intelligence assessments linking the Novichok nerve agent used in the attack to the Kremlin appear to have played a key role in building a united EU response.
While it failed to satisfy Mr Corbyn, Croatian prime minister Andrej Plenkovic said: ‘There was not a single head of government who questioned the authenticity of the UK security services’ conclusions’. Lithuanian leader Dalia Grybauskaite said the ‘ very detailed’ information the PM provided ‘influenced our decision’ to ‘upgrade’ the response text.
Mrs May said it was ‘crucial’ there had been ‘ recognition around the table last night about the threat that Russia poses.’
But Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov accused the UK of trying to ‘deepen the crisis with Russia’. He added: ‘We still do not see any facts, which makes us think that all this is provocation.’
The boss of the Porton Down defence laboratory, Gavin Aitkenhead, yesterday said there was ‘no way’ it could be linked to the poisoning of the Skripals. Some conspiracies had suggested its proximity to Salisbury could be behind the nerve agent use.
‘Worse than the Cold War’