Tiergarten Assassination: New Crisis in German-Russian Relations

It could be the title of a police spy movie: “Murder in the Tiergarten”. But it is not. This is the cold-blooded murder during the day, of the Georgian origin Zelimhan Kangosvili from Chechnya, on August 23, 2019 in the busy park Tiergarten, in the heart of Berlin.

The 56-year-old Russian Vadim Krazikov was found guilty and now sentenced to life imprisonment yesterday (15.12) by the Berlin Court of Appeals. According to the judges, Krazhikov acted as an agent at the request of the Russian Internal Security Service FSB and consequently the Kremlin.

The German Attorney General was a catapult: Krazhikov executed Kangosvili at the behest of the FSB, which had given his agent a special passport and made it possible for him to travel undisturbed throughout Europe under the pseudonym “Vadim Solokov”. He even acted as a single – although in fact he was married to a Ukrainian citizen – and in the profession he appeared as a civil engineer.

According to German judges, this is a case of Russian “state terrorism”. It is worth noting that in German court records, a similar case of “state terrorism” was the “Mykonos” case in 1992. That case, which referred to a mafia clearing of accounts, resulted in the murder of four Kurds at the “Mykonos” restaurant in Berlin. . The bomber struck shortly after noon in front of a gathering of Iranian intelligence officials, including senior Iranian officials.

Deportation of two Russian diplomats – What will Russia do?

Following the announcement of the German court’s verdict yesterday, the new German Foreign Minister, Analena Berbok, summoned the Russian ambassador to Berlin, Sergei Nehayev, to inform him about the deportation of two Russian diplomats, who are related to the case. not women.

Analena Berbock even spoke of “assassination at the behest of the Russian state”, an act that violates German sovereignty and the rule of law. He said he had already spoken to Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, saying that Germany “demands and needs an open and honest dialogue with Moscow” on the basis of international law and mutual trust.

The Russian side reacted by calling it a “political decision”, motivated by “a generalized anti-Russian sentiment”. As the Russian ambassador to Berlin said: “We consider this decision to be biased, politically motivated and to seriously burden the already difficult Russian-German relations.” Nehayev even spoke of a “manifestly unfriendly move”, which “will not go unanswered”. Following the news of the deportation of the two Russian diplomats, the spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, also took a position on the social network Telegram, stating that Russia “will respond appropriately”

Dimitra Kyranoudi (DW, daily News.from, SZ)

Source: Deutsche Welle