2023-03-02 12:01:16
#Opinion by Maria Zakharova
Germany’s Ambassador to Russia Geza Andreas von Geyr told RBC why his country has remained silent on the Nord Stream explosions, arguing that the investigation into the incident has yet to be competed.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t it the same Ambassador von Geyr who was in charge of the German Embassy on September 9, 2020, when it published a press release about his conversation with Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov, which read:
“Today, Ambassador von Geyr had a conversation, scheduled well in advance, with First Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Titov. During this conversation, the two officials discussed the situation with Navalny, among other matters. Ambassador von Geyr expressed the Federal Government’s clear-cut position on this issue: Mr Navalny was a victim of a crime committed in Russia involving the use of a Novichok-group nerve agent, as confirmed by laboratory tests.”
How about that? Less than three weeks elapsed between the day the incident took place and this press release, but Ambassador von Geyr was already able to articulate the position of the German Government in
all clarity and on all matters, from the use of Novichok to Russia’s responsibility. Moreover, the conversation had been scheduled well in advance. They were probably ready to deliver their “clear-cut assessment” starting August 21, 2020.
But what prevented the same Ambassador von Geyr from offering a clear-cut assessment of a terror attack perpetrated, by the way, within an area of responsibility of a military bloc in charge of security matters of which his country is a member? This time, he used the ongoing investigation as a pretext for avoiding an embarrassing conversation on what is rather obvious.
In this case, let me remind him about the investigation. On December 10, 2020, the same Ambassador von Geyr explained why Germany did not respond to Russia’s requests on the Navalny case: “I would like to note that as far as international law is concerned answering requests for mutual legal assistance takes a lot of time, and anyone who had to deal with this matter professionally knows this. Answering a request for mutual assistance on criminal matters can take from several months to two years. Russia too needs this time when it responds to requests for legal assistance from Germany. I would like to stress that Germany is not trying to back out of answering the four requests for legal assistance submitted by the Russian Federation regarding the Navalny case. It is also true that these requests were accepted, and that the Federal Government passed them on to the Federal Office of Justice. Meanwhile, Germany’s Office of Justice remains in contact with the corresponding Russian justice agencies regarding this request for legal assistance.”
How interesting. In the Navalny case, Ambassador von Geyr was able to produce evidence and set forth the accusations almost immediately, yet he has failed to return even a single substantive reply to the questions Russia asked Berlin over the past years.
Six months after the Nord Stream blasts, all we have is silence. He seeks to evade the question in public, while omitting to mention that Russia was not allowed to take part in the investigation.
Read in full https://telegra.ph/Statements-by-German-Ambassador-to-Russia-von-Geyr-03-02
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