Niinistö seeks clarity of how Navalny got sick

President Sauli Niinistö on Wednesday expressed concern at the health condition of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and underscored the importance of getting full clarity of what happened.

“The news coming from the German government today on Alexei Navalny is worrying. The use of a chemical weapon is shocking. It is important for the whole international community to get as full clarity as possible of what happened,” said the president in a statement.

The sick Russian opposition leader is now undergoing treatment in Germany after being in coma since he had taken what is suspected to be poisoned tea.

According to the German government, the toxicology tests on Navalny suggest he was exposed to a nerve agent.

Navalny became ill during a flight from Siberia to Moscow last month.

He was airlifted to a hospital in Berlin for treatment after Niinistö held separate telephone conversations with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on 21 August.

Navalny’s medical evacuation flight, paid for by the German non-governmental organisation Cinema for Peace, landed at Tegel airport in Berlin on 23 August.

Navalny’s office later thanked the Finnish President for his role in ensuring the treatment of the Russian opposition leader.

The German government in a statement on Wednesday said tests revealed that Navalny had been exposed to the nerve agent Novichok, which was used in the UK in 2018 in an attack the UK government blames on Russia.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on the Russian government to answer the “serious questions”.