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EU "strongly condemns" Salisbury nerve agent attack

EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels
EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels
BRUSSELS, March 19 (KUNA) -- The European Union (EU) strongly condemned Monday the attack that took place against ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, UK, on 4 March, that also left a police officer seriously ill.
"The lives of many citizens were threatened by this reckless and illegal act. The European Union takes extremely seriously the UK Government's assessment that it is highly likely that the Russian Federation is responsible," said the EU Foreign Affairs Council, which is meeting in Brussels today, in a statement.
It expressed the EU's shock at the offensive use of any military-grade nerve agent, of a type developed by Russia, for the first time on European soil in over 70 years.
"The use of chemical weapons by anyone under any circumstances is completely unacceptable and constitutes a security threat to us all," said the Council and welcomed the commitment of the UK to work closely with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in supporting the investigation into the attack.
The EU called on Russia to address urgently the questions raised by the UK and the international community and to provide immediate, full and complete disclosure of its Novichok programme to the OPCW.
"The European Union expresses its unqualified solidarity with the UK and its support, including for the UK's efforts to bring those responsible for this crime to justice," it added. (end) nk.mt