NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg press conference following meeting of the North Atlantic Council to address the assassination attempt on Alexey Navalny Sep. 04, 2020. (nato.int) 

By Gary Raynaldo      DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Allies on Friday condemned  the assassination attempt on Russian opposition politician Alexey Navalny.  A well-known Kremlin critic and corruption investigator, Navalnh fell ill on a flight to Moscow on Aug. 20 and was taken to a hospital in the Siberian city of Omsk.  Navalny has been in an induced coma in a Berlin hospital since he was flown to Germany for treatment more than a week ago. The North Atlantic Council met  to address the assassination attempt on Navalny. Germany briefed Allies on the toxicology findings of their specialist laboratory. 

“There is proof beyond doubt that Mr. Navalny was poisoned using a military-grade nerve agent from the Novichok group,”

-said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

All NATO Allies condemned the attack and called on Russia to cooperate with the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons on an impartial, international investigation. The NATO Secretary General stated that the attack on Navalny is also an attack on “fundamental democratic rights and a serious breach of international law, which demands an international response.”

The NATO Allies said in a statement that any use of chemical weapons, under any circumstances, is a clear breach of international law and contrary to the Chemical Weapons Convention, which prohibits the use of all chemical weapons.

“We are united in our call on Russia, as a matter of urgency, to be fully transparent and to bring those responsible to justice, bearing in mind Russia’s commitments under the Chemical Weapons Convention. In this context, as part of a joint international response, Allies support the important role of the OPCW and urge Russia to immediately disclose any information relevant for its work.”

-NATO Allies

Meanwhile, Moscow says it has not seen German data on  Navalny’s condition, and, therefore,  does not accept the diagnosis of poisoning.