Several European Countries Refuse to Follow UK Lead in Russia Diplomat Expulsions

European Union flags fly outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels. © Yves Herman / Reuters

As Western countries expel Russian diplomats over the Skripal case based completely on premature analysis of the facts and the chemicals, other nations are being more level-headed, refusing to act until the investigation has been completed.

On Monday, 18 European Union nations, other European countries, the US, and Canada announced they would be expelling Russian diplomats from their territories in solidarity with the UK's recent decision. The US expelled 60 Russian diplomats, while other nations in Europe only expelled between one to four. 

The move was made after the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in Salisbury, UK, earlier this month, which Western nations have blamed on Moscow.

However, there have been some dissenting voices in the sea of uniformity. On Tuesday, Switzerland noted that it would wait for the results of the investigation before taking any action. Its Foreign Ministry said that the country "supports mechanisms and institutions that can independently clarify facts and security evidence." 

Obviously, Switzerland is not part of NATO or there would be no room for wisdom and patience like that. Truth has no relevance in NATO.

Austria, an EU member, said it would not be taking any "national measures," while noting its desire to "keep the channels of communication to Russia open."

Cyprus also declined to expel any Russian diplomats without any further evidence. "Our country is not in a position to take measures against countries that are permanent members of the UN Security Council," government spokesman Prodromos Prodromou told Cyprus News Agency (CNA) on Monday, as quoted by the Independent Balkan News Agency (IBNA).

Neither Austria nor Cyprus are NATO members. Slovakia and Greece are members of NATO and ought to be congratulated for not being bullied into submission.

Slovakia was not eager to jump the gun either. "The development of the situation, as well as Russia's response to the calls addressed to it by the EU countries -- including Slovakia -- will influence the next steps that we are prepared to consider in this case," the Slovakian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday. However, the country said it was summoning the Russian ambassador "without delay."

Last week, ahead of a meeting with British Prime Minister Theresa May at a European Council summit dinner in Brussels, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras stressed the need for an investigation into the Skripal case before jumping to conclusions.

“We have to express our solidarity to the UK, to the British people, but at the same time we need to investigate,” he said.

Other EU nations, including Bulgaria, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia, and Slovenia, have also declined to join the expulsion frenzy.

And while May hails the coordinated move by Western countries as the "largest collective expulsion of Russian intelligence officers in history," Russia's Foreign Ministry has spoken out against the "unfriendly step."

"We express our strong protest in the wake of the decision taken by a number of EU and NATO member countries to expel Russian diplomats. We consider this as an unfriendly step that is not consistent with the goals and interests of establishing the underlying reasons and searching for the perpetrators of the [Skripal] incident," a Monday statement from the Foreign Ministry said.

Is Russia responsible for the poisoning of the Skripals? Possibly. It might have been some kind of message from Putin to traitors abroad. That's not so far-fetched, in fact it's been done before. But the Litvinenko poisoning made it obvious that chemical weapons could be traced with a fair degree of accuracy. Consequently, it would take a pretty stupid person to then use another chemical that could be traced to Russia in attempted assassinations, unless they wanted that chemical to be traced to Russia.

Is Putin that brazen? Maybe, but I seriously doubt that he is that stupid! Assassinating traitors does not require a Russian signature for other traitors or potential traitors to get the message. So, it seems obvious to me that this is a false flag operation, or possibly committed by someone within Russia wanting to demonize Putin even more than he already is.

Like the chemical weapons attacks in Syria, they occur for a purpose. Syria has no purpose in using chemical weapons, but all of its many enemies have the purpose of causing the USA to turn against Syria and against any possibility of peace breaking out.

Who gains from Russia being accused of a chemical attack in the UK? Who has benefited from the attacks? Theresa May, for one. NATO for another.

Who lead the premature response to the chemical attack in Syria? USA. Who leads the premature response to the Skripal attack? UK. Who refuses to allow independent investigation into both attacks? The UK and the US! Both are NATO countries.

I'm not accusing anyone of anything here. Just saying there are a lot of coincidences; a lot of decisions being made prematurely; a reluctance to thoroughly investigate; and it all fits with NATO's purpose of driving Russo-hysteria. It's all great for weapons sales.... Follow the money...