The mysterious apparent murder bid on an ex-Russian spy in
Britain has taken on a wider European dimension.
Predictably,
the incident was used to whip up anti-Russian claims in the British media. But,
in addition, the European Union soon came under pressure to show “solidarity”
with Britain in the supposed Russian assault on its sovereignty.
Former
British officials were reported bemoaning the lack of solidarity from EU states
over the alleged Russian violation on British soil. The EU then responded with
an obligatory statement of “solidarity” with Britain, with the tacit acceptance
of Russian malfeasance at play.
The
allegations of Russian state involvement in the apparent lethal poisoning of
exiled Kremlin agent Sergei Skripal in England last Sunday have been leveled
with deplorable disregard for due legal process.
Within hours
of the incident – which saw 66-year-old Skripal and his adult daughter rushed
to intensive hospital care – British media were speculating that Russian agents
had carried out a revenge assassination attempt.
Skripal was
exiled from Russia in 2010 after being convicted for treason as a double agent
for Britain’s foreign intelligence service MI6. He was living in the southern
English town of Salisbury, where he was found paralyzed in a public park along
with his 33-year-old daughter.
British
counter-terrorism officers have disclosed that the pair were victims of a toxic
nerve agent attack, without identifying the chemical used. They have claimed
that the attacker or attackers must have been state-sponsored to carry out such
a lethal operation. British police have not yet specified any particular agency
for the attack, but as noted the British media quickly jumped to reckless
speculation of Russian involvement. The speculation has been fueled by
government ministers like Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson using innuendo.
Russia’s
Foreign Ministry dismissed the allegations of Moscow’s involvement as “more
irresponsible Russophobia”.
The notion
that Russia would carry out a risky operation on the eve of its presidential
elections this month in order to avenge a disgraced former spy who had been
living openly in England for the past eight years defies credibility. It’s
frankly absurd given the already heightened anti-Russia hysteria in the Western
media that the Kremlin would even contemplate such a scheme.
Nevertheless,
the evidence does point to an assassination attempt on Skripal using a
military-grade chemical weapon. Senior British toxicologist Dr Alistair
Hay told Radio Free
Europe this week that the chemical substance used in the attack was most likely
one of the organophosphate poisons, such as soman or tabun, which are related
to sarin and VX. These are nerve agents that can kill from exposure of human
skin to a single droplet.
Hay, who is
an advisor to the British government on chemical warfare agents, cautioned
against rushing to accusations against Russia. “In my view, it’s much, much too
early to point a finger at anybody at this stage,” said the expert.
All that the
internationally respected toxicologist would venture to say is that the nature
of the attack had “military capability” because of the extreme lethality of the
substances involved.
If we assume
that Russia was not involved – which is a fair assumption given the above
reasoning – then the question is: what state agency could have carried it out?
For what objective?
In
particular, focus is drawn here to agencies which are seeking to sabotage
Europe-wide relations with Russia. As noted above, one of the ramifications
from the anti-Russian allegations over the poisoning incident was prompt
pressure on the EU to show a tough response towards Moscow.
Former
British ambassador to Russia, Sir Tony Brenton, reportedly accused the rest of
Europe of lacking in support for Britain.
“The European
Union will once again fail to help the UK in its fight against Russia after a
former Russian spy was allegedly poisoned in Salisbury, according to former
ambassador Sir Tony Brenton,” reported the Daily
Express.
Another
former British foreign office advisor claimed that
because of the EU’s bitter wrangling with Britain over the Brexit “the Kremlin
was taking advantage of the UK’s lack of allies in the US and EU, and its
inability to do much about the Skripal case”.
This logic
implicating Russia is unhinged. But the telling aspect is the seeming intended
effect of embroiling Europe in a wider antagonistic response to Moscow.
Admittedly,
the following discussion here is speculative. But it’s worth a posit.
Last week,
the US-led political campaign to scupper the Russia-EU Nord Stream 2 project
was given renewed impetus.
The $11
billion, 1,200-kilometer gas delivery pipeline is nearing completion next year.
Foreign
ministers from Poland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia were in Washington DC to
meet with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on the specific subject of the
Nord Stream 2, and how it might be cancelled, reported Voice of
America.
Poland and
the Baltic states are advocating for US supply of gas to replace the
traditional European source from Russia. The issue is of huge strategic
importance. US President Trump has been vocal in his support for the European
states switching to American gas exports, even though that would work out much
more expensive for European consumers.
The Nord
Stream 2 project is a partnership between Russian state-owned Gazprom and five
private energy companies from Britain, Germany, France and Netherlands.
But the
project has been buffeted by the political repercussions over allegations
against Russia concerning Ukraine, Crimea and purported “interference” in US
and European elections.
The German
and Austrian governments are strong backers of the new gas network with Russia.
Last week, Austrian President Sebastian Kurz was in Moscow where he met with
Vladimir Putin and expressed his support for the Nord Stream 2.
However,
apart from Poland and the Baltic states which are marked by vehement
anti-Russian ideological politics, there are also elements with the EU
administration which are similarly opposed to the Nord Stream supply. It is
claimed, they say, that such an arrangement will give too much leverage to
Moscow over European affairs. Such advocates tend to be pro-NATO and
pro-Washington.
The point is
that the campaign to undermine the Russian-EU gas partnership has come with
renewed impetus – as seen in the delegation last week to Washington by the
Polish and Baltic government ministers. Of course, they are pushing at an open
door. American state interests are wedded to the objective of knocking out
Russia as Europe’s gas supplier.
Now then, the
timing of an assassination bid in England which is framed on Russia comes at a
convenient moment in the strategic tussle over Europe’s global energy market.
It seems significant that pressure is being brought to bear on the EU “to get
tough” on Moscow over the alleged attempted murder of the exiled Russian spy.
The “get tough” response being sought could be cancellation of the Nord Stream
2 gas project.
If that
stands up as a motive for the latest attempt to cleave EU-Russian relations,
then our focus on the likely perpetrators shifts to the following: American
state agents, possibly working with British and Eastern European accomplices,
in trying to kill Sergei Skripal and his daughter, with the purpose of
blackballing Moscow.
https://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2018/03/10/russian-spy-poison-attack-nord-stream-2-bigger-target.html