Russian opposition blogger Alexey Navalny has recovered and is now fit as a fiddle in Berlin after his alleged poisoning, and is commenting on everything related to Russia on social media
BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th October, 2020) Russian opposition blogger Alexey Navalny has recovered and is now fit as a fiddle in Berlin after his alleged poisoning, and is commenting on everything related to Russia on social media.
He had, among others, nasty words for former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who is now one of the board members of Russian energy giant Gazprom, which is together with Germany building the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Baltic sea to bring Russian gas directly to Germany.
Nord Stream 2 is nearly completed and Germany has decided to stop the work, temporarily, not too sure about what they want, since stopping the works altogether, as the USA obligingly and forcefully suggests, would hurt German industry and public utilities very much.
How to shoot oneself in the foot? One could ask Chancellor Angela Merkel, EU Commission head Ursula von der Leyen and the head of the German CDU in the European parliament, Manfred Weber, also head of the Christian Democratic party in the European parliament, the EPP. They speak of stopping the gigantic project, but will they walk the talk?
Navalny's brash declarations make him an embarrassing friend. The Russian opposition politician, back in shape, attacked former Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder as "Putin's errand boy who protects the murderer." The SPD and German government did not react officially, but the leader of the AfD parliamentary group, Alexander Gauland, declared in parliament: "With this statement, Mr. Navalny needs to be taught to behave. It is not fitting for a guest to meddle so presumptuously in the political life of the host country. Mr. Navalny was warmly received in our country and treated well.
Distributing self-righteous grades to a former head of government and other public figures does not indicate a very good upbringing. A little more politeness and restraint would also make Mr. Navalny more palatable.
This has become a habit for the two large Western European democracies, which are used to giving lessons to the planet, from Donald Trump's US, to Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Recep Erdogan in Turkey or Vladimir Putin in Russia.
In the case of Russia, a series of important Russian officials has seen their assets frozen and any travel to the West forbidden after the return of Crimea to Russia, after the alleged poisoning of an ex-Russian spy in the UK, used by the British against Russia, after the construction of the major investment project which is the Kerch bridge, opening up more economic development for the Crimean peninsula, and now after the alleged poisoning of Navalny.
France and Germany have drawn up a list of nine people believed to be "responsible for the attempted assassination" on the Russian opponent.
Both consular offices issued a scathing statement on Wednesday, October 7. Signed by the foreign ministers of France and Germany, it confirms the commitment of the two countries not to leave the alleged use of the nerve agent Novichok unpunished in the "terrible assassination attempt" committed in Siberia, on Russian soil. Paris and Berlin stress that "there is no other plausible explanation for the poisoning of Mr. Navalny than Russian responsibility and involvement ... It is a shocking new use of a chemical weapon, two years after Russia used such a weapon on British territory in Salisbury on March 4, 2018." Following the Salisbury incident, the EU adopted individual sanctions against the two alleged executors and two officials of the military intelligence service (GRU), Director Igor Kostioukov and his first deputy, Vladimir Alekseev.
It seems strange to condemn a government because "there is no other plausible explanation." Still, Paris and Berlin also announced that they "will send their European partners proposals for additional sanctions against Moscow ... These proposals will target people we consider responsible for this crime and this violation of international standards, because of their official functions, and an entity involved in the Novichok program."
The list mentions 9 names of people employed in the presidential administration and within the security apparatus of Russia. Their symbolic importance could invoke a response from Moscow. The mentioned entity is the State Institute for Scientific Research in Organic Chemistry and Technology (GosNIIOKhT), considered to be the birthplace of the nerve agent Novichok all the way back in the Soviet era.
The list will be discussed at the European Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on October 12.
A similar European decision, in response to the return of Crimea to Russia six years ago, comprises 177 people and 48 entities.
Most observers underline the fact that Germany has carefully avoided to mention Nord Stream 2, which would have been a much stronger political message to Russia. Again, Germany and von der Leyen do not really want to shoot themselves in the foot. After all, the gas pipeline will serve, when completed, the whole of Europe.
The sanctions imposed in reply by Russia on European products, such as fruits and cheese, have hit hard sectors like the Parmesan industry in Italy or the apple and pear producers of Germany, Belgium, France and the Alto Adige region in Northern Italy.
This time, Moscow reacted to the press release denouncing "threats and attempts at blackmail."
"Instead of duly cooperating with the Russian Federation in order to clarify the circumstances of what happened with this blogger, the German and French governments have moved on to threats and blackmail attempts against us ... The declaration is unacceptable by its content and its tone ... Paris and Berlin place themselves at the head of an anti-Russian coalition," Moscow warned.
"The Navalny case fits into a broader relational context between the EU and Russia. The EU estimates it has 3 major disputes with Russia at the moment: the Navalny affair, the 'annexation' of Crimea and the way the rule of law and human rights are treated in Russia," professor Pierre Vercauteren, a political scientist at UCLouvain university in Belgium, told Sputnik.
The experts explained that both sides are not too interested in stoking tensions.
"It's a complex game and both sides are very careful to inflict only measured blows. The joint intervention of Chancellor Merkel and President Macron is limited. She proposes that the EU sanctions Russia again, by identifying a small number of Russian policymakers who will be banned from traveling to Europe and will have their assets - if they have any - frozen in European banks and in Switzerland," the professor said.
Vercauteren explained that the incident also has important implications for domestic politics both in Euroipe and in Russia.
"I believe that the European decision is not in doubt and that it is also a sanction with a message for internal use in the European Union; to Hungary or Poland: we will be firm when it comes to 'Rule of Law.' In Russia, I believe that is also a game-changer. Navalny acquires the stature of a major opponent, much as [Andrei] Sakharov had become an icon in his day. It doesn't destabilize President Putin, who is a very intelligent man, but it is a new reality he has to deal with, especially if Navalny returns to Russia. It is possible that the poisoning of Navalny was not the fiat of Russian power; the constellation of power is vast and Navalny annoyed many people. Some may be trying to pull the strings behind the scenes, but it is also possible that the power is at work," he concluded.
For Thierry Mariani, former minister under Nicolas Sarkozy and now a member of the EU parliament for the French RN, this is not a surprise.
"I frankly don't see what the Russian government would gain in poisoning an opponent that - following a polling institute, generally-accepted as independent - Navalny has the support of 2% of the population. But there is more astonishing: now in Europe, the legal concept has been invented of 'presumption of guilt.' In private law, there is always the presumption of innocence, but for the EU and NATO, certain countries, such as Russia, are by definition guilty. It is up to Russia to prove its innocence! This list of a few individuals who will be sanctioned means nothing at all. None of these decision-makers have a bank account in Europe or intend to travel to Europe, so this is a purely symbolic sanction," he told Sputnik.
The French politician said that Germany is not looking to target areas where cooperation with Russia was economically significant, such as Nord Stream 2, but pointed out the hypocrisy of those lobbying for the pipeline to be shut down given how environmentally unfriendly the alternative, LNG from across the Atlantic, is.
"All this makes the pressure in the Brussels European parliament stronger and stronger: the Baltic states and Poland have unleashed their anger against the pipeline bringing Russian gas. They are backed by the US who want to sell their shale gas to Europe, turned into LNG. Environmentally, this is a dreadful solution, worsening climate change, but you see the 'Greens' voting as one man against Nord Stream 2 ... by favoring the LNG gas of the Americans. Well done the ecologists," Mariani said.
In Germany, the Navalny case shows how divided the political class is about sanctions on Russia. The grand coalition is ill at ease, defending arguments such as "we do not see who else could have done it." For the second party in the country according to the polls, the right-wing AfD, the position is clear: without evidence, no sanctions.
Regarding the demands coming from German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian for further EU sanctions against Russia, the chairman of the AfD parliamentary group, Alexander Gauland, explained on Thursday in parliament and in the press: "The Navalny case is a crime that was committed on Russian soil against a Russian citizen. The investigative work is therefore of course also the responsibility of Russia. Germany, France and the EU are interfering unilaterally in this domestic Russian affair by announcing sanctions. And that even before an explanation has taken place!"
He spoke against falling out with Russia at the expense of Germany's image as an impartial side.
"A hostile relationship with Russia cannot be in the German interest. German foreign policy should be careful to maintain a neutral, non-partisan attitude, also so as not to completely gamble away its reputation as an honest broker. Germany must not make itself the tool of the politician Navalny," Gauland said.
The foreign policy spokesman for the AfD parliamentary group, Armin-Paulus Hampel, told Sputnik that, given the uncertain nature of what happened to Navalny, Germany should refrain from any conclusions, especially in an already tense environment.
"With Nord Stream 2, we see how the majority is divided. In the Bundestag's economic parliamentary committee, they rejected the AfD application to support this important energy project and the completion of the gas route. As for Navalny's mysterious poison attack, there are still so many contradictions that the case should be treated with the utmost restraint on the diplomatic floor. German-Russian porcelain has already been smashed enough like that. As long as there is no clear evidence, further sanctions against Russia are to be rejected," the politician said.
Navalny fell ill during a domestic flight in Russia on August 20. He was initially treated in the Siberian city of Omsk, where the plane made an emergency landing. Two days later, when doctors established he was fit for cross-border aerial transportation, the 44-year-old was flown to Germany for further treatment.
Days later, on September 2, the German government claimed that samples taken from Navalny contained traces of a nerve agent from the Novichok group. Earlier tests conducted in Russia did not show any traces of poison.
Russia has demanded that Germany provide evidence and make the case materials available to Russian investigators. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) earlier this week found in Navalny's system traces of a toxin, which was not in the OPCW's registry of prohibited chemicals.
In a recent interview with the German Spiegel news magazine, Navalny accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of being behind his alleged poisoning. The Kremlin called his statement "extremely insulting and unacceptable."
