Our people in Europe. How the GRU recruited PACE chairmen In January 2022, the Soviet…

In January 2022, the Council of Europe was headed by socialist Tini Cox. After Russia’s attack on Ukraine, he, like other European politicians, strongly condemned the invasion and insisted on the expulsion of the Russian Federation from the organization.

In fact, Cox was considered “your man» from the Russian authorities. Contact with him was established by the former Consul General of Russia in Strasbourg and part-time professional intelligence officer Valery Levitsky. In the documents that were at the disposal of the Dossier Center, Levitsky not only lobbied for the appointment of Cox to the post of head of PACE, but also argued that he would “veiledly” promote the interests of the Kremlin in the assembly.

Levitsky’s network of influence included not only Tiny Cox, but also several former PACE chairmen — René van der Linden (2005-2008) and Pedro Agramunt (2016-2017), as well as the organization’s former secretary general Bruno Aller. With Aller and van der Linden, as follows from intelligence reports, Levitsky discussed the resumption of dialogue with Russia through PACE and the fight against sanctions.

In 2018, after the poisoning of the Skripals, Valery Levitsky was expelled from Strasbourg for espionage. He himself said that he simply fell under the “hot hand,” but there is every reason to believe that Levitsky was exiled for the cause. Firstly, Le Monde spoke about his work for the GRUsecondly, the diplomat himself admitted that served in the Armed Forces simultaneously with work at the Russian consulate in Marseille. This is what a typical career as a spy under diplomatic cover looks like.

Officials from Levitsky’s influence network did not stop communicating with him even after his expulsion from Strasbourg and publications about his work for the intelligence services. And in 2019, Russia was indeed returned to the right to vote in PACE – and the report on the need for this decision was prepared by Teenie Cox.

Read more about the GRU influence network in the Council of Europe in the Dossier Center’s investigation.

Video:
https://youtu.be/szAuFPxbTxI

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