PURGE OF KREMLIN SPIES
As EU blames Russia for poison attack, 5 nations could join UK in expelling agents
THERESA May gained the backing of all other EU leaders to blame Russia for the Salisbury attack last night.
The Kremlin faced having its European spy network dismantled as five nations were said to be ready to follow Britain by expelling Russian agents.
As Mrs May warned EU leaders their countries were ‘ at risk’ from Russia, sources said France, Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania were among a string of EU states who said they may boot out diplomats.
The move came after the Prime Minister used a Brussels summit yesterday to brief the other 27 European leaders on the Salisbury attack, which left former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia fighting for their lives.
Mrs May warned her counterparts that the attack showed ‘ the Russian threat does not respect borders and, as such, we are all at risk’.
Some EU states, including Greece and Bulgaria, were reluctant to condemn Moscow directly. But sources said Mrs May persuaded them to back Britain’s analysis that it was ‘highly likely’ Russia carried out the attack.
EU Council president Donald Tusk said it ‘agrees with the UK that it’s highly likely Russia is responsible for the Salisbury attack and that there is no other plausible explanation’.
The first sign that Mrs May’s diplomatic offensive had borne fruit came when Lithuania indicated it could boot out suspected Russian spies.
Asked about expulsions, Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite said: ‘We are considering such measures.’ A French diplomat confirmed several EU nations were drawing up plans for a coordinated expulsion of Russian agents.
‘Certain countries are ready for possible action, decided at a national level in consultation with other European states,’ the diplomat said. Lithuanian foreign minister Linas Linkevieius also suggested the World Cup in Russia ‘shouldn’t happen’. He said: ‘In Russia everything’s used for politics and to make Russia proud at being capital of this world religion football, I don’t believe it’s very productive.’
Britain expelled 23 suspected agents in the wake of the Salisbury attack, and has warned allies privately that they should consider following suit.
She warned leaders that the Salisbury attack was part of a ‘pattern’ of aggressive Russian behaviour.
A senior British official said: ‘Russia has shown itself to be a strategic enemy, not a strategic partner.’
The official stressed the UK was ‘not looking for confrontation’, but wanted to show Russia that its aggression would not go unchallenged.
Yesterday, while northern allies voiced support for the UK, some southern countries publicly expressed doubts. Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borissov said he was not sure Russia was behind the Salisbury attack, while Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras said there was a ‘need to investigate’ the Salisbury incident fully before taking further action. Both eventually agreed to back Britain’s line, though.
Yesterday, Moscow’s ambassador in the UK, Alexander Yakovenko, hit back at Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson for ‘insulting’ the Russian people by likening Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler.
He warned that ‘nobody has the right’ to compare Russia with Nazi Germany.
He also attacked Britain over what he called its ‘wild’ accusations against the Kremlin over the Salisbury poisoning.
He said Britain was painting a picture of Russia as an ‘enemy’.
On Wednesday Mr Johnson compared Mr Putin’s hosting of this summer’s World Cup with Hitler’s 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Asked about the comments, Mr Yakovenko, 63, said they were ‘unacceptable and totally irresponsible’.
He added: ‘The British Government is free to make a decision about its participation in the World Cup, but nobody has the right to insult the Russian people, who defeated Nazism and who lost more than 25million people, by comparing our country to Nazi Germany.
‘That goes beyond common sense and we do not think British war veterans would share this opinion.’
Mr Yakovenko boasted that the World Cup would be an opportunity for the Kremlin to ‘advertise Russian standards of living’, and said Russia had been chosen by the world to host it.
‘We are all at risk’