16/03/2018 Politics Europe

Now on BBC News, Politics Europe.

Hello and welcome

to Politics Europe,

your regular guide to the top

stories in Brussels and Strasbourg.

As Putin prepares for the expulsions

of former Russian nation, will the

EU increase sanctions on the Soviet

state? Does the EU have its very own

Frank Underwood? We will delve

inside the shady world of European

bureaucrats. As Britain's

relationship with Russia reaches

those not seen since the Cold War,

the Russian embassy has upped it

came on Twitter. Is social media a

new diplomatic weapon? All that to

come and more in the next half an

hour. Joining me for all of it is

Ian Dale and Rachel Sylvester.

First, here is our guide to the

latest from Europe in just 60

seconds. This week, MEPs voted in

favour of setting up recommendations

for future relationship with UK. The

draft text has now been to London.

Meanwhile, European Commission

President told Parliament that the

UK would regret Brexit to the

amusement of Eurosceptics.

You will

respect -- regret your decision.

It

has emerged a European Parliament

delegation has been conducting

secret talks with North Korea to try

and persuade them to end their

nuclear programme. Elsewhere, Slovak

p.m. Resigned after weeks of turmoil

sparked by the murder of an

investigator journalist who had

raised questions about his judgement

after it was alleged a close aide

had links to the mafia. Millions of

Europeans may have been running late

since mid-January following an

electrical dispute between Kosovo

and Serbia, causing Cox to lag

behind by up to six minutes across

25 countries. -- causing clocks.

That's picked up after that.

Will we

regret Brexit? He has to say that

because the EU has to hope that we

regret Brexit or others may want to

follow suit. Of course he will say

that. Some of the reaction has been

slightly over the top. It is what we

expect him to say. It is not

bullying Britain in any way at all.

We would expect him to say that.

Shouldn't he give outline a rest? We

do expect it to some extent. This

idea that we don't want to see

others go the way of Britain. Just

drop it.

I think that's right. I

think he's probably right. Written

may well end up removing it. It is

already proving much more

complicated, the economic

implications becoming clear, all of

that. I think is the worst possible

to say it. It sounds so arrogant, it

is exactly what everyone voted

against is being told what to do by

the EU and some Eurocrat. Maybe he

is right, but shut up, as Gavin

Williamson might say.

And go away,

to finish that phrase. Do you think

as you have said, actually, people

just have priced it in.

I think

people factor it in. I think what is

more interesting is what gave the

whole state is saying. If you look

at his tweets and statements over

the past couple of weeks, they are

very different to what he was saying

six months ago. Much went arrested

in getting the right deal, much more

positive, much more constructive

than he has been. He was one of the

first to come to Britain's support

over Russia as well. I think that

people on my side of the argument

need to actually recognise that

there is a little bit of a change

with some people and we should also

be very open in thinking European

countries for their support over

Russia because that wasn't

necessarily a given, and France and

Germany hadn't come so strongly and

Denmark as well, of course, Rachel

would be writing: is saying it is

all due to Brexit and it is what we

can look forward to in the future.

Let's discuss the relationship.

There has only been one big story in

town this week, and that is of the

poisoning of surrogate scruple and

his daughter. They have expelled

diplomats and they are expecting the

same to happen to diplomats in

Russia. We await the retaliation.

What will the EU do? A previous

candidate to be thin and's Prime

Minister is in Brussels. What do you

make of the European Union's

response to the poisoning?

We are

going to see very different approach

is because some of the country is

won't be criticising Russia very

severely. At the same time, I think

almost a clear majority will feel

themselves very much pushed in a

direction where they had to stand up

for the values and for member

states, even if it is the member

state who is about to leave. So I

think we are going to discuss this

in the Parliament in the next

session and I think the verdict will

be pretty harsh.

Pretty harsh in

terms of the stance against Russia?

Well, we have a lot of indications

in this case, Russian security

agencies have killed their former

agent earlier, that is almost a

question of honour for them, so the

only one who could actually be

interested in getting rid of Skripal

are the Russians. We won't find a

person with the smoking gun going in

or out from the Russian embassy in

London. We won't find, I am pretty

sure we won't find a smoking gun at

all. Usually when you kill persons

like this, it is a very cynical

killing because they didn't even

care about Skripal's daughter. My

guess would be that they will be a

middleman, a lot of middlemen in

between, but from my point of view,

I think Russia should be very

interested in clearing this because

the poison, the only source for it

comes from, awkward come from

Russia. That is a small possibility

during the 1990s that many weapons

in Russia were taken apart because

the State couldn't take -- pay the

wages and the military took what

they could, just almost all the

AK-47s, around in Europe now come

from these depots. There is a

possibility that this also had this.

Because of your proximity, to

Russia, in Finland, are you afraid

of Russia and Russian retaliation in

general? No, we are probably the

only country in Europe having had a

war with Russia and still staying

independent nation, so I think our

credentials are pretty good day and

I don't think we are afraid of them.

What we should be slightly scared of

in Europe in general is not very

rational behaviour in Russia,

because it's an unstable system for

the moment. You have somebody up

there, Vladimir Putin, and then you

don't actually have machinery on

which you can put any, or a much

trust. So the system as such is

unstable, and that is a problem.

What about concrete help from the

European Union? What concrete help

could Britain expect?

Well, it

depends on what you need. As I said,

we have a lot of indications about

the source of this murder, but as

also said, we won't find a gun. So

what would rate -- Great Britain

need in these times from us? I think

if we go back to what we could

offer, we could offer all the

knowledge, and our services could

fire and, and if Russia is

retaliating even more in regard of

Great Britain, then of course we

have two follow-up, we have to do

something just to show our

solidarity. This might sort of go

further.

Do you think that it would

have been any different's I will

come back to you in a moment. You

think there would have been a

difference to the EU response? They

have shown solidarity, if regs it

wasn't happening?

No, I don't think,

I don't see what other response that

could have been. The freight that

France, Germany and the US signed

this, which is quite strong, it is a

very strong statement, and I imagine

that a lot of the other countries

would the happy to sign up to it as

well so I don't know what else we

could expect.

After that it's the

mango incident, Europe showed

solidarity, but there wasn't much in

terms of concrete measures. Are we

expecting members of the European

Union to expel their Russian

diplomats? To put further sanctions

in place? The sorts of things we

should be expecting from the

European Union?

I think there could

be somewhat economic sanctions. But

I think the show of solidarity and

strength is in itself very

important, and that's that's a

statement that, a multilateral

approach is important. It does work.

Even as Brexit is going along, we

are not ever going to be able to

live and operate and spend it in

isolation. We are always going to

have to rely on allies in Europe, in

America, and I think that is

incredibly important reminder at

this very critical moment in the

negotiations to both sides,

actually.

And this is a big story in

other European countries. It is the

number one story for the whole week.

I think some people think it is a

story in a small town in England.

It

is not. Finally, is that right? My

other guest says it is a big story

in European countries. It is a big

story in the European Parliament?

It

is a big story, yes, indeed. Why?

Because it was a very cynical

murder, and all the indications we

have are pointing at rush hour, so

we should demand of them some very

honest and some very clear answers,

and if they are not able to deliver

those answers, then we have to think

about further measures and those

measures should be European

measures, not just UK measures or

finished measures of Belgian

measures, they should be European

measures.

All right. Thank you very

much for joining us. They are

critically ill, in hospital, not

dead. Now, it has been described as

a coup, and the European Union

Brodtmann very own House of Cards.

Russes bureaucrat who used to be the

chief of staff has been promoted to

be the head of the EU civil

servants. The EU Commission has

argued his appointment. The

Secretary General was all above

board. Some are timber is --

furious.

There is something about Martin, the

man who prefers life behind the

flags rather than in front of them.

As the chief of staff or four years,

he has found himself in the front

row of the news before. Either for

his slightly scary reputation or

accused of leaking details of a

Brexit dinner in Downing Street.

Now, it is big cause of his

promotion. -- because. He has been

going up in the world. He applied

for and got the job of deputy

Secretary General, and then in the

same meeting, the Secretary General

announced he was retiring and he was

red -- transferred into his job.

Summoned by MEPs to explain, the

Commissioner for HR said it was all

above order.

TRANSLATION:

Martin has all the

necessary qualifications to take on

the task of Secretary General of the

commission. He has lengthy

experience in key positions within

the commission. He is an excellent

legal expert. He is very good

communication and he is certainly

100% suitable for this position.

But members from across the

political spectrum lined up to

criticise the

political spectrum lined up to

criticise the appointment of.

political spectrum lined up to

criticise the appointment of.

political spectrum lined up to

criticise the appointment of.

This

political spectrum lined up to

criticise the appointment of.

This

destroys all of the credibility of

the European Union as a champion of

integrity and transparency and

public commercial edition. At times

when public trust in the EU is low,

this is devastating and the fact

that the commission remains deaf

until the day of today to criticism

shows how disconnected it is from

reality.

You should do your best to

come out with something which is

trustworthy and you should avoid any

feeling for any impression that it

was a preprepared, politically

motivated nomination and

unfortunately, I don't think that in

this case you did your job

perfectly.

You can see the defeat

etched in their faces. This is the

morning after and these were the

European Union's commissioners. To

some it brings back memories of 1999

when a report accused one of Jack

Santo's accusations of cronyism and

they all resigned en masse.

I

arrived here just after the fall of

the commission and I would say this

to you, that UKIP would never have

won any seats in the European

Parliament had it not been for the

nepotism of the commission, so I

would be very grateful.

Does this at

all feel like that period, could

this be the start of that sort of

thing?

Nearly. What is interesting

is that you have thought the

appointment of an official to a big

job be a story that would have

stayed within Brussels and

Strasbourg, actually it is out

there. It has been talked about in

the French media and training on

Twitter.

There is a lot going on in

this story, some score settling, and

the German journalism, some optimism

and genuine concern and now his

promotional bit subject of a

Parliamentary enquiry with a vote at

some point in the future. Good luck

in the new job, Martin! Adam Fleming

there with good wishes. Alex Barker

in Brussels for the Financial Times

joins us. All this fuss about

Martin, is it overplayed? This is

politics.

Indeed. What makes it

special is that Martin, who was

basically a political appointment

and politics is against him and so

it brought him into the limelight in

a way that he is not comfortable

with.

Jean-Claude Juncker's man, how

powerful is he in this new role?

I

don't think his new role makes much

difference to his power. He is

extraordinarily powerful in terms of

a chief of staff or top aid to a

European Commission person and --

president. You have to go back to

the days of Delors and his team to

have anything equivalent to this.

The micro managers. His cursor is

over at almost every document that

emerges out of this place. What

really distinguishes him is his

willingness to take on a public

profile. I asked him once why his

kind of methods were so tough on

things, he said I cannot run the

commission K Montessori schools. His

methods, his micromanagement, his

energy has really made him stand out

in terms of a bureaucrat here.

You

have met him, what is he like?

He is

good company. He is quite funny. He

is absolutely determined he can turn

against you quite easily. He runs

the place like a tight ship. He

surrounds himself by people who are

loyal to him, his top appointments

in the commission at the people who

are loyal to him. But I think the

pressure he is facing is partly a

function of unease about his boss,

really, as well. Jean-Claude Juncker

has not got the energy that some

MEPs would hope a European

Commission president would have and

yet it is powerful at the same time.

Lot of attention is turning to his

aid and he is absorbing some of the

criticism too.

He is described as

anything from a monster to Rasputin,

to think are fair descriptions?

I

asked him that as well and he said

that Jean-Claude Juncker is the good

guy and I am the bad guy. He is an

enforcer and for some member states,

they are pleased that he is playing

that role. This is a big unwieldy

place, 30,000 odd bureaucrats here

and he delivers for them. At times,

when they have a special favour to

ask Tom in a political problem, but

it also means that he upset a lot of

people. So, you know, there are

peoples upset that there are too

many Germans in top positions, the

Germans are upset that Martin is not

German enough. There are those who

would prefer this to be a civil

service and not run by effectively a

political appointees. The coalition

of the upset is growing and he is

under quite a lot of pressure.

You

can't please all people all of the

time or even any of the time. Alex

Barker, thank you from much for

joining us. While Russian British

relations have fallen to their

lowest level in decades, a very new

type of diplomacy has been playing

out on Twitter. The official account

of the Russian Embassy in London

have frequently goaded the British

government so much so that they have

been called professional trolls by

some. In Theresa May called Russia's

reaction to the poisoning affair one

of sarcasm, content and defiance,

she could have had their social

media output in mind. After the

expulsion of 23 of their own

diplomats this week, they posted the

temperature of Russian British

relations drops to -23, but we are

not afraid of cold weather. On

Tuesday, they said any threat to

take punitive measures against

Russia will meet with a response.

The British side should be aware of

that. With a handy diagram to

explain their point. This Post asked

a week after the poisoning toll on

-- poisoning toll and. Last month,

when the UK was battling the beast

from the east, their poll asked:

The most popular answer was tricked

more vodka. Joining us now is Molly

Goodfellow and Russian comedian,

Constantine. Welcome to both of you.

Constantine, to a British audience

these tweets are pretty bizarre,

even offensive. Given the current

context. Are we missing digit joke?

I don't think so, these tweets are

cheesy and slightly unoriginal. But

I think that is where Russia finds

itself now. It is trying to fight a

war of words and one of the

interesting things in terms of

difference, we don't have the

concept of banter in Russia. The

idea that you it's a horrible things

to your friends as a sign of

affection. When he sees attempts,

these are an attempt to undermine

the West's message that Russia is

doing through humour. How effective

that is I don't think we really know

that is what I think is happening.

You think it represents a Russian

sense of humour, even if it is not

good and clumsily done?

These are

the kinds of church you write when

you haven't in jokes before.

He says

crushingly. Are they funny at all?

I

think some people are finding humour

in them. If you look at the joke

tweets they do versus the quite

straight ambassadorial tweets they

do, the jokes would have a far more

sense of engagement and favourites,

there are people who are finding it

funny and that disconnect between

this is a very serious political

unit versus being quite trolled and

tweeting in the way that tweeters

tweet. Looking at a political

account, is quite rare.

Using the

medium and the current context is

serious. But actually when you look

at what has been written, they are

not bad in an attempt to break the

ice. I am sorry, I know. That cannot

the top of my head.

I think it is

such a serious situation. You have

got three people in hospital having

been poisoned with a nerve agent, it

is not a time for silly jokes on

Twitter. Again, there has also been

Russian bots interfering in Western

democracy around the world. I think

it is just not a laughing matter

actually.

Tasteless and

inappropriate?

No, it is a

deflection tactic. I think they are

quite funny in some ways but we all

pay attention to them, discussing

them here now, we would be

discussing the Russian Embassy if

they haven't done that. It was like

a press office, they did the same,

the Liberal Democrat press office.

What you think the Russian reaction

would be to these kind of tweets

from an official British account?

I

wouldn't know but I think in terms

of the Russian reaction to these

tweets, most Russian people would be

quite enjoying this trolling, I

think. In terms of your point about

seriousness, Russian people tend to

be less squeamish and politically

correct on these issues. When most

Russian people see these tweets they

will be kind of enjoying it.

You

should offer them your services!

I

think it works in their favour, I

should say. It is that dichotomy

between the strict parents telling

Russia to stop it and the child that

is pointing their tongue out and

blowing raspberries.

Gavin Williams,

the Defence Secretary.

You do think

we have British equivalents clearly

on this site. Playing of course, to

cultural norms in Russia, like the

weather and a vodka. In a way, is

that not an attempt to reach out

somehow?

Is a staple of my comedy,

absolutely. I think you do have to

play with this but it is a question

of what you're trying to achieve and

I think in this case in terms of

Russian humour, we are not quite as

self-deprecating as British people

asked when we make fun of someone

else it is to undermine and question

what they are saying, to make a

point. I think this is a

continuation of politics.

It is a

case of 1-upmanship than the. A

dither completely Russian and

English comedy, there is not a

meeting of the minds?

No, I don't

think there is.

You are a meeting of

the minds! Isn't this what Twitter

is for? To do this sort of thing?

Absolutely. I think it is.

Politically the Russian Embassy is

probably the account that is doing

the best in terms of understanding

the Twitter trolling- mind.

When the

Minister of defence Twitter account

start doing this then it becomes a

war of words.

On that, that is it

now. Thank you for joining us and

thank