"Unfounded and unfriendly decisions": the Foreign Ministry commented on the expulsion of Russian diplomats from Poland, Sweden and Germany

On Monday, February 8, the foreign ministries of Poland, Sweden and Germany announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats.

Thus, these states responded to the decision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia to declare the embassies of these countries persona non grata for their participation in illegal actions on 23 January.

"Today's decisions of Poland, Germany and Sweden are just unreasonable, unfriendly, they are a continuation of the very series of actions, actions that the West is taking with regard to our country and which we qualify as interference in internal affairs," said an official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova on the air of the TV channel "Russia 1".

Unauthorized rallies in Russian cities took place on January 23 and 31.

The actions were initiated by representatives of the Anti-Corruption Foundation * and their supporters in connection with the detention of Alexei Navalny, who returned from Germany to Russia on January 17.

Along with this, Zakharova said that Germany had refused the fourth request of the Prosecutor General's Office on the incident with Navalny.

“The German side responded with a refusal to the request of the Prosecutor General's Office of Russia to interrogate Maria Pevchikh, referring to the fact that her address on the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany was allegedly unknown.

At the same time, according to data from open sources, she met in Germany with Alexei Navalny, who was guarded around the clock by the special services of the Federal Republic of Germany, and on the day of his departure from Berlin to Moscow she was among those who saw him off, ”Zakharova said.

She also pointed out that Berlin did not provide "any data on the results of a toxicological study of traces of poison, allegedly found on mineral water bottles," which Pevchikh took from a Tomsk hotel to Germany.

“The FRG authorities also refused to provide any information about the experts who examined the bottles and refused to interview them,” she explained.

Along with this, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov commented on the open letter of Vitaly Kozak, a neurologist working in Switzerland.

Recall that at the end of January, a specialist pointed out inconsistencies in an article by the Lancet magazine, dedicated to the alleged "poisoning" of Navalny.

Lavrov noted that "any questions and reasonable doubts regarding this case must be clarified."

At the same time, the diplomat also stressed that the Western countries are trying to make the "Navalny theme" the main one in the dialogue with Russia, and pointed out the FRG's refusal to "in good faith satisfy" the official requests of the RF Prosecutor General's Office.

“The German authorities first referred to the fact that the information on this matter was classified, since its disclosure would allow the Russian side to understand what knowledge the Bundeswehr has in the field of chemical weapons.

Then the reasoning changed.

They began to emphasize that Navalny prohibits the transfer of any information, including his personal data, to the Russian side, ”he said.

Speaking about Germany's allegations of "poisoning" of Navalny, Lavrov pointed out that the OPCW's technical secretariat "openly played along" with this line of behavior by resorting to non-transparent procedures for providing assistance.

In particular, the specific formula of the substance allegedly found in biomaterials has not been made public.

“That is, we are offered to take their word for it, while at the same time putting forward in an unacceptable ultimatum form demands that the Russian law enforcement agencies initiate a criminal case on, as they claim, the“ proven fact of poisoning ”of Navalny with a chemical warfare agent.

Logical indications that in this case these Western countries are hiding the key evidence of a probable crime, which, according to our laws, is necessary for opening a criminal case, are dismissed without a clear explanation.

In general, the circle has closed, "the Russian Foreign Minister said.

The Russian minister also suggests that the FRG special services helped Navalny in making a film about the "palace in Gelendzhik".

This, he said, is evidenced by the blogger's visit to the building of the former residence of the Soviet intelligence in Dresden and the demonstration of materials from the folder, which is presented as "Putin's personal file."

“It is clear that it is impossible to get into this building and even more so to gain access to certain archives without cooperation with the official authorities of the Federal Republic of Germany - most likely, with their special services.

This alone says enough about the background of this whole story and about the role that the West has played and is playing throughout its promotion in the international media space, ”he said.

In addition, Lavrov wondered how the archival materials, which the filmmakers claim, to Vladimir Putin, were transferred without his consent, while in the case of Navalny, the German authorities "are concerned about his right to dispose of personal data."

“We turned to the German Foreign Ministry for clarification on this matter, from where we were informed a few days later that Navalny's access to the aforementioned archival materials had been approved by the relevant German department, and there was“ nothing secret ”in the materials transferred to him.

Comments are superfluous, "Lavrov concluded.

Recall that Alexei Navalny was hospitalized on August 20.

He became ill on board the plane en route from Tomsk to Moscow.

The airliner made an emergency landing in Omsk, where the blogger was taken to the hospital.

Russian experts noted that no poisons or toxic substances were found in Navalny's body.

After the blogger's condition stabilized, at the request of his family, he was transported for treatment to the Berlin clinic "Charite".

In Germany, Navalny was allegedly poisoned with poison from the Novichok group.

After that, the foreign ministers of the European Union countries agreed on the introduction of sanctions against Russia.

After being discharged from the hospital, Navalny returned to Moscow on January 17, where he was detained for repeated violations of the regime, which he must observe as a suspended sentence in the Yves Rocher case.

On February 2, the Simonovsky District Court of Moscow issued a decision to replace the conditional sentence (3.5 years) with a real term, while the time spent under house arrest and in the pre-trial detention center will be counted. 

On February 7, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell wrote in his blog that relations between Moscow and Brussels, which were already at a low level, have deteriorated even more due to the events around Alexei Navalny.

At the same time, on February 22, the foreign ministers of the EU countries may decide to introduce new sanctions against Russia "for violation of human rights."

* The Anti-Corruption Foundation is included in the register of NPOs performing the functions of a foreign agent, by decision of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation dated 09.10.2019.