BRUSSELS, December 16. /TASS/. The verdict handed down by the Berlin Higher Court in the murder case of Georgian citizen Zelimkhan Khangoshvili is evidence that ‘bad things happened’ and Germany provided a clear-cut response to that by expelling two Russian diplomats, Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz said upon his arrival for an EU summit on Thursday.
"The verdict in the murder case in Tiergarten [Park], which we observed, is a clear evidence that bad things happened and therefore it was absolutely correct that German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock gave a clear response to that," Scholz said.
On December 15, the Berlin Higher Court handed a life sentence to a Russian citizen charged in the murder of Georgian national Zelimkhan Khangoshvili two and a half years ago. The court accepted the prosecution’s argument that the murder had been allegedly ordered by Russian state agencies. German Foreign Minister Baerbock said following the verdict that Berlin viewed the murder as "a violation of law and sovereignty" and announced the expulsion of two Russian embassy employees.
As Der Spiegel reported, citing its own sources, Berlin intends to persuade the heads of state at the EU summit to adopt a joint statement condemning Russia’s actions in the murder case of Khangoshvili. As the publication said, the EU might allegedly threaten Moscow with new sanctions in this statement. However, new restrictions are hardly likely, the German magazine says.