EU Backs May and Points Finger at Russia for Chemical Attack
EU Backs May and Points Finger at Russia for Chemical Attack
(Bloomberg) -- European Union leaders sided with the U.K. and said it’s “highly likely” that Russia was behind the nerve agent poisoning in Britain of a former double agent.
At the start of a two-day summit in Brussels, the spotlight fell on Prime Minister Theresa May as she needed to make a compelling enough case to persuade other members of the EU to line up behind her country.
The united front was revealed in a tweet from EU Council President Donald Tusk who said the bloc “agrees with U.K. government that highly likely Russia is responsible for Salisbury attack and that there is no other plausible explanation.”
Top U.K. security officials briefed all EU counterparts on intelligence about the precise nerve agent used in the attack.
May ordered 23 Russian operatives -- who she said were undeclared spies -- to leave Britain in retaliation for the attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal. She will now be looking for other countries to follow up on Thursday’s joint statement with action against Russia.
To contact the reporters on this story: Arne Delfs in Berlin at adelfs@bloomberg.net, Tim Ross in Brussels at tross54@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Flavia Krause-Jackson at fjackson@bloomberg.net, Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net.
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