Monday

2nd Oct 2023

Tiny Kox: Russian spy in Strasbourg was 'no James Bond'

Listen to article

"He was sometimes there, he was smiling," said Tiny Kox, a Dutch politician, speaking of a Russian spy he used to see around in the corridors of the Council of Europe building in Strasbourg, France.

"He was no James Bond," Kox added, referring to a British spy-movie icon.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

  • Valery Levitsky was an officer in Russian military intelligence, Dossier Center said (Photo: Dossier Center)

"He was there, but not saying or doing anything. I'm not sure if that's part of the behaviour of spies," Kox said.

"I never speak with secretaries but they always accompany their delegations," he added.

Kox is currently president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

The low-key Russian was Valery Levitsky, who used to be secretary general of Russia's 80-strong delegation in Strasbourg, as well as an officer in Russia's GRU military-intelligence service.

France expelled him in 2018 on grounds of espionage.

Levitsky described Kox as a friend of Russia in internal Russian documents revealed in September this year by Dossier Center, a London-based NGO, prompting suspicion.

But Kox denied having known him or having ever had pro-Russian leanings.

"There was no relationship between me and whatever spy Russia might have sent to the Council of Europe," Kox said.

"I've been involved in quite a lot of romances, although I'm now 45 years with my wife, but a romance with Russia I was never engaged in," the Dutch socialist also said.

Russia was expelled from the Council of Europe shortly after its invasion of Ukraine in February, in a move Kox endorsed.

"If you cross the borders of a neighbouring state with your army then you cross the borders of the Council of Europe, then you're out," he told EUobserver.

And if Moscow had been counting on him for friendly ties as PACE president, then its support "boomeranged", Kox said.

PACE, on his watch, also named the Russian regime a "terrorist" entity and called to create a special tribunal to try Russian president Vladimir Putin for the crime of "aggression" against Ukraine, Kox noted.

"It would be important the EU also comes to the same conclusion," he said, as MEPs in the EU Parliament prepared to vote on a resolution on Russia's "terrorist" status on Wednesday (23 November).

The new "aggression" tribunal would go after the Russian government, which had also inflicted loss on its own people, Kox said.

Some 84,600 Russian soldiers have reportedly died in the war, he said, and while they were "not victims but perpetrators of violence", the figure still left him "cold", he added.

The UN already had war crimes tribunals for military commanders and soldiers, so that no one would go unpunished, Kox said.

"We've seen one atrocity after another [committed in Ukraine]," Kox said, referring to reports of mass rapes of Ukrainian women and murders of civilians.

Asked why Russian soldiers were behaving so egregiously, he said: "It's hard to judge at this stage".

"Atrocities take place in all wars committed by soldiers who used to be sons and fathers and lived normally and this has to be investigated, what's behind this," Kox said.

Going back to Levitsky, the Dossier Center revelations suggested he was part of a wider pro-Russian clique that also included Bruno Aller (a French ex-PACE secretary general) and René van der Linden (a Dutch former PACE president).

But when asked if he thought the Council of Europe had a serious Russian espionage problem in the years before the war, Kox disagreed.

Aller and van der Linden's reputations were beyond reproach, he said.

"Not only the Russians in diplomacy have their relations to secret services," he added.

But in any case, the Council of Europe had no internal security team to relay concerns to people like Kox up in the hierarchy, he noted.

Council staff checked people's basic credentials and delegates had to sign a code of conduct on what they did in Strasbourg.

But security-vetting or investigations into allegations of wrongdoing, such as espionage or corruption, were up to national authorities, Kox explained.

Opinion

Punish Belarus too for aiding Putin's Ukraine war

While Belarus has not sent its own troops to fight Russia's war in Ukraine, the Minsk dictatorship has been heavily involved. As a result, Belarus must be punished for its involvement — what can the world do to sanction Belarus?

Latest News

  1. European Political Community and key media vote This WEEK
  2. Is the ECB sabotaging Europe's Green Deal?
  3. The realists vs idealists Brussels battle on Ukraine's EU accession
  4. EU women promised new dawn under anti-violence pact
  5. Three steps EU can take to halt Azerbaijan's mafia-style bullying
  6. Punish Belarus too for aiding Putin's Ukraine war
  7. Added-value for Russia diamond ban, as G7 and EU prepare sanctions
  8. EU states to agree on asylum crisis bill, say EU officials

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  2. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators, industry & healthcare experts at the 24th IMDRF session, September 25-26, Berlin. Register by 20 Sept to join in person or online.
  3. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  4. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  5. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators & industry experts at the 24th IMDRF session- Berlin September 25-26. Register early for discounted hotel rates
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations
  2. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  3. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  4. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us