President of the European Council Donald Tusk says that Russians will not refrain from any means to weaken European unity and Vladimir Putin's Russia represents a major threat to the unity of the European Union.
"Our problem is Russia, which is undermining whatever it can undermine in Europe," Tusk said on October 6 at a conference on the future of the European Union to express concern about Russia's attempts to influence the direction of politics in Europe, POLITICO reported. "I can provide numerous examples to prove that Russians will not refrain from any means to weaken European unity."
Stating he was "anxious" about the result of Latvia's national election, Tusk said it could "be a turning point for that region — a moment which was planned in the Kremlin and not in Europe." The final polls showed the pro-Russian Harmony party poised to win the biggest share of votes.
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Tusk also referenced "very clear traces of Russia's engagement in the Brexit referendum campaign" and in Catalonia's conflict with Madrid, and cited the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and the cyberattack on the Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons as examples of unwelcome interference.
Tusk claimed he has no "anti-Russian obsession," but said: "If there is somewhere whose main political priority is to disintegrate Europe, this certainly is Russia."
The conference was hosted by the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Kraków in southern Poland.