In an article entitled “The Kremlin Legion of the Council of Europe,” the British organization, created by Putin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, accused the current and former President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe of secretly communicating with a Russian diplomat expelled over ties. to the GRU.
“The current head of PACE, Tiny Kox, has defended the interests of the Kremlin for several years, and his election as head of the assembly was pressured by a GRU spy”
– We read in the text.
Where did you start?
The main coordinator of the Kremlin network in the Council of Europe was the professional Russian intelligence officer Valery Lewicki. The organization states that Loecki was the Russian Consul General in Strasbourg, but in April 2018 he was expelled from France as a Russian Military Intelligence agent due to actions incompatible with his diplomatic status.
According to the “Dossier Center”, the Kremlin’s network of influence also included several former PACE chiefs, including. Spaniard Pedro Agramonte, who visited Syria with a Russian delegation in 2017, as well as former Secretary General of the French Association Bruno Aller.
“The Kremlin has considered Tiny Koxa the “contact” of PACE at least since the summer of 2014, and the idea of electing him as head of the organization was born in Moscow no later than the summer of 2017.
– The author of the article notes and adds that at first the Kremlin did not believe that this was possible, but the goal was achieved shortly before the attack on Ukraine.
“In press articles, the media directly close to the Kremlin described him as the ‘pro-Russian candidate’ and stated that he initiated the lifting of sanctions against Russia.”
– We read in the text.
They worked in Moscow
A special role in pressing the interests of the Kremlin was played by the head of PACE in 2005-2008, the Dutch Christian Democrat Rene van der Linden, who, according to the author of the article, maintained his influence and contacts in the Council of Europe . There is information in the text that the Russians even paid for Dutch flights and hotels, for example in 2018 during his visit to Istanbul and Vienna.
A Christian Democratic politician told the daily Algemeen Dagblad that These accusations are “complete nonsense”.
“The charges against me are baseless.”
– Tiny Kox wrote on his website and indicated that it was he who submitted a request to exclude Russia from the organization after the aggression against Ukraine.
“The actions of the Kremlin revealed in the course of this investigation do not require a new name – this strategy has long been an open secret. But The fact that shortly before the outbreak of war the Kremlin managed to put together its “candidate” for the post of PACE chief shows that little has changed in the assembly itself since the era of “caviar diplomacy”
The author concludes the text.
Source: niezalezna.pl, PAP
“Coffee enthusiast. Troublemaker. Incurable introvert. Subtly charming twitter scholar. Award-winning social mediaholic. Internet buff.”
