AT least 10 European Union countries are set to expel Russian intelligence agents and diplomats next week, with the number responding to the UK’s call for action set to continue to rise.
As the row over the the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury escalates, it is understood France, Germany, Poland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Denmark are among those considering the move.
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The news follows the unprecedented agreement of all 27 other member states to a strongly worded statement unequivocally supporting Theresa May and blaming Moscow for the first known offensive use of a nerve toxin in Europe since the Second World War.
During a late-night meeting at the EU summit on Thursday, the leaders also agreed to recall the EU’s ambassador to Moscow.
French president Emmanuel Macron told reporters afterwards: “What happened in Great Britain has clearly never been seen before. It is an aggression against the security and the sovereignty of an ally, today a member of the European Union, which demands a reaction."
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The unanimous agreement was surprising. There are countries in the EU that have a warm relationship with Moscow, and others who don’t necessarily want a cold relationship with Moscow.
European Council president Donald Tusk, a former prime minister of Poland, said: “It is very difficult to prepare an adequate reaction to behaviour like a nerve agent attack.
“We will never have the real chance to respond adequately because we are completely different to the perpetrators of this attack, if you know what I mean. This is why I was focused yesterday on what is for me the most important political goal ... to keep the whole community as united as possible in this very dramatic moment and situation.
“We reached that goal ... as a result of our decision yesterday, I expect a number of member states will take additional measures against Russia on Monday. It is not the end of our actions.”
Tusk added: “In these difficult circumstances, I am personally esp- ecially pleased that, despite the tough Brexit negotiations, the European Union has demonstrated unanimous and unequivocal unity with the UK in the face of this attack.”
Reports suggest Greece and Italy were among those hesitant to sign up, but were convinced after seeing fresh intelligence from May. The final wording of the agreement was strong, with no room for misinterpretation. The leaders said they “agree with the United Kingdom Government’s assessment that it is highly likely that the Russian Federation is responsible [for the attack] and that there is no plausible alternative explanation”.
It was a sizeable shift from the start of the week, when EU ministers would only say: “The European Union takes extremely seriously the UK Government’s assessment that it is highly likely that the Russian Federation is responsible.”
Italy’s Europe minister, Sandro Gozi, said there was no hesitation from him “once things became clearer thanks to the information we got from the prime minister”.
Artyom Kozhin, Russia’s foreign ministry spokesman, said: “We regret that the EU chose to follow another anti-Russian campaign launched by London and its allies from across the ocean, with the obvious purpose of creating yet another obstacle to normalising the situation on the Euro- pean continent.”
Skripal, a former Russian double agent, and his daughter were found unwell on a bench in a park in Salisbury on March 4. They remain in hospital in a serious condition.
Investigators removed the bench yesterday. Scotland Yard said it was being taken to “preserve it as a potential crime exhibit”.
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