The European Council is expected, according to draft conclusions obtained by EUROPE on 30 September, to condemn the “attempted assassination” of Russian political opponent Alexei Navalny using a ‘Novichok’-type military chemical nerve agent.
“The use of chemical weapons constitutes a serious breach of international law”, they will reportedly reiterate. The European Council is also expected to call on the Russian authorities to cooperate “fully” with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), in order to ensure an impartial international investigation into Mr Navalny’s poisoning.
Upon his arrival at the European Council, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said the poisoning attempt was “outrageous” and that it is “a very alarming sign, which should make some Western leaders wake up”. “This may be the moment for everyone to say that there is no point in undertaking projects like Nordstream with Russia”, he added.
For his part, the Lithuanian president, Gitanas Nausėda, recalled that Mr Navalny was not the first opponent to be poisoned. “This regime is not ready to apply democratic rules, it uses 20th century methods, and we cannot tolerate that”, he warned.
See the draft conclusions: https://bit.ly/2HJet2R (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant with the editorial staff)