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Diplomat slams Spanish media’s interest in alleged Russian interference as unhealthy

The Russian diplomat, in particular, lashed out at reports that Russia allegedly seeks to weaken the European Union

MOSCOW, November 28. /TASS/. Some Spanish media outlets have unhealthy interest in Moscow’s alleged role in the Catalonia crisis, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Thursday.

"We can see that some Spanish media outlets and bloggers have unhealthy interest in once again bringing up the almost forgotten issue of Russia’s alleged interference in Spain’s domestic affairs with regard to events in Catalonia. Apart from publishing bogus stories about Russian intelligence services’ involvement in the developments in Catalonia, they again claim that our country seeks to weaken the European Union, particularly by spreading fake news," she noted.

"They say that Spain has purportedly refused to cooperate with Russia in the cybersecurity field. All in all, there is a huge number of pointless reports disguised as analysis. I would like to point out that Acting Spanish Foreign Minister Mr Borrell rejected these allegations when speaking to reporters in Madrid on November 21," Zakharova stated.

Spain’s El Mundo newspaper claimed last week that a Russian and a Ukrainian had been detained in the La Jonquera municipality, Girona province, on October 4 and a M75 hand grenade had been found in their car. According to El Mundo, the Spanish legal authorities may investigate their role in the Catalonia crisis.

The El Pais newspaper alleged earlier that an investigation had been launched in Spain into a group linked to Russian intelligence services, which could have been active in Catalonia during the crisis. Russian Ambassador to Spain expressed outrage at the newspapers’ allegations.