BRUSSELS (AP) – British Prime Minister Theresa May won the backing of 27 other European Union leaders Thursday in blaming Russia for the poisoning of a former spy on English soil – an attack the bloc called a threat to its collective security.
EU Council President Donald Tusk tweeted that the 28 leaders agree with Britain that it’s “highly likely Russia is responsible” for the attack on Sergei Skripal.
In a strongly worded statement later, the EU Council of all the bloc’s national leaders said that “there is no plausible alternative explanation.”
Calling the attack a “grave challenge to our shared security,” the EU states said they would “coordinate on the consequences to be drawn in the light of the answers provided by the Russian authorities.”
The unanimity was a victory for May. She had been striving at a summit in Brussels to persuade her EU colleagues to unite in condemning Moscow over the attack on Skripal, a former Russian military intelligence officer convicted of spying for Britain, and his daughter, Yulia.