BRUSSELS/KYIV – The European Union (EU) has said that Russia’s interference in the internal affairs of other states over the arrest of a person who is believed to have spied for Russia is unacceptable.
“We know about the arrest of an Austrian colonel on espionage charges for Russia, investigations in Austria, as well as the decision of the Austrian foreign minister to cancel his trip to Moscow,” one of the EU officials told Interfax in Brussels.
Disrespect for the sovereignty of states and interference in their internal affairs is unacceptable. The EU has always clearly stated this and acknowledges the problem that Russia presents, as evidenced by the recent debates in the European Council, Interfax’s source said.
In turn, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin, commenting on the arrest in Austria of an alleged agent of Russia, said on his Facebook page that nothing would stop Russian intervention in the politics of other countries.
“No neutral status will save you from Russian spies in the ranks of the Armed Forces. Literally on the eve of official ceremonies for the centenary of the end of World War I, Austria faces a modern “Colonel Redlich” – an Austrian officer, and in fact a high-class spy who worked for the Russian Empire, to whom they said that he changed the course of history. Ironically, but the Russian spy exposed today in Austria also has a similar chance – and this is a chance for today’s Austria to take a closer look at today’s Russia,” Klimkin wrote.
In his opinion, over the course of 100 years little has changed in terms of goals and methods for Russia.
