President of the European Commission not ready for a ‘huge fight’ with Russia
In an interview with the Austrian newspaper Der Standard, the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker stated that the European Union should maintain a dialogue with Russia even after the Russians were accused of cyber-attacks.
"Despite the increasing dissatisfaction with Russia nowadays, we should again realize that for reasons of security architecture, we should maintain a dialogue with Russia and partly work together,” Juncker said.
"I am not ready for a huge fight with Russia, although I have just published a communique in Brussels in which we are very critical about what is happening in the Netherlands. But I am in favor of keeping calm, and not succumbing to Russia.”
The EU expressed serious concern regarding Russia’s attempt to carry out cyber-attacks against the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague.
On October 4, the Netherlands alerted other nations on attempted Russian cyber-attacks in April against the OPCW that they managed to prevent through joint efforts of the Intelligence branches of Great Britain and the Netherlands. The Organization was investigating the poisoning of the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.
Employees of the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate also tried to get hold of the data of the international investigation into the downing of Malaysian Boeing in the East of Ukraine. The Netherlands expelled four employees of the Main Intelligence Directorate following to the Russian cyber-attacks.