IÑAKI PARDO TORREGROSA, BARCELONA 30/10/2020
Sergei Lavrov during a press conference this week in Athens (Costas Baltas / Reuters)
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia rejects what they consider “accusations of interference in the internal affairs of Spain”, as a result of the cause instructed by the head of the Court of Instruction number 1 of Barcelona, which investigates possible ties of independence with the Kremlin. The embassy of the Russian Federation, through the networks, was making fun of such statements, because in the past was already involved in similar accusations and were already marked as “aberration” in its day. The ministry headed by Sergey Lavrov pointed out last night in a statement about the “alleged evidence of Russia’s interference in this process alongside the separatist forces” that are “absurd”, “notoriously false”, “fake news” and that “exceed all limits ”. Likewise, it is emphasized that these statements that would incriminate a group of Russian citizens who would be willing to provide both financial and military aid, according to the investigation of the investigation, “are based exclusively on the manifestations of representatives of the separatist forces.” “We understand that these people are willing to make any, even the most unlikely and adventurous statements with one sole purpose: at any price to internationalize the process and attract the most exaggerated attention from world public opinion to their dispute with the Spanish State,” he says. the communiqué, in which they refer to 1-O as “the so-called ‘referendum’ of 2017”.
About the independence movement
“These people are willing to make any even the most unlikely and adventurous statements with one sole purpose: at any cost to internationalize the process ”
For the Russians, the mention of their country in this context “falls very opportunely on the ground fertile by the anti-Russian propaganda promoted in recent years in the West and should appear credible.” “The calculation is understood”, value. In addition, they also throw a dart at the press, which they call a “tabloid”. From the ministry they assure that they see all this “calmly” despite the “perplexity” caused by “the readiness of some media” to believe what they consider “fake news” and accept accusations against Russia that “are notoriously false and lacking evidence “. “Such events lead nowhere except to damage Russian-Hispanic relations,” they conclude.
Putin already stated in 2017 that the territorial conflict is an “internal issue” that must be resolved with Spanish law
Despite the fact that there have been more or less recurrent accusations against Russia in this regard and of computer attacks or the use of bots, the ministry refers to the official position expressed by the Kremlin over the years. In October 2017, although President Vladimir Putin took advantage of the Catalan question to reproach the European Union’s “double standards” with the independence movements for the recognition of Kosovo – neither Russia nor Spain recognize the Balkan republic -, he made it clear that the “procés” was an “internal issue” that had to be resolved with Spanish law. “The position of Russia is known: everything that happens is an internal matter of Spain and must be resolved within the framework of Spanish legislation, in accordance with democratic traditions,” he said from Sochi.
In 2019, following statements by Josep Borrell, then acting Foreign Minister and today European Commissioner, Putin pointed out that his country does not want any European state to “fall apart” and that it was “an absurd delusion to say that Russia is a threat ”. “We are not at all interested in European countries falling apart one after the other,” he added. The instruction of the court number 1 of Barcelona is not the first that involves the Russians. In November 2017, the then Government spokesman, Íñigo Méndez de Vigo, and the Minister of Defense, María Dolores de Cospedal, affirmed in a press conference that they had verified the interference of Internet users based in Russia and other non-European countries in the Catalan crisis, and in 2019 an investigation had been opened for this in the National Court.
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