UK's Integrity Initiative Revelation May Lead To Improvement Of Russia-EU Relations - NGO

The revelation of the United Kingdom's Integrity Initiative project may become a factor for improvement of the EU-Russia relations, as the public will understand that pretexts for implementing Western anti-Russian measures have been based on fake news, Marcello Ferrada de Noli, professor emeritus, founder and chairman of Swedish Doctors for Human Rights, told Sputnik

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th November, 2018) The revelation of the United Kingdom's Integrity Initiative project may become a factor for improvement of the EU-Russia relations, as the public will understand that pretexts for implementing Western anti-Russian measures have been based on fake news, Marcello Ferrada de Noli, professor emeritus, founder and chairman of Swedish Doctors for Human Rights, told Sputnik.

International Anonymous hacktivist group branded UK's Integrity Initiative as a "large-scale information secret service" created by London to "counteract Russian propaganda" and meddle in other states' domestic affairs. On November 23, the hacktivist group released documents related to this project and said that the program had been launched in 2015 and was funded by the UK government.

"First, I regard these revelations as very important, and I believe that its effects might evolve determinant for the betterment of relations between EU countries and Russia. And in a transparent, positive direction, I hope," de Noli said.

According to the professor, the Western public will realize that many hostile actions by London in relation to Russia or Syria have been based on fabricated pretexts.

"That because it will be understood by the public, that many of the arguments and appeals to episodes [like those referred to the war in Syria] that were used to motivate military aggression against Syria or hostile economic and geopolitical measures against Russia, may now be revealed as simple constructions, fake-reports disseminated by a network financed by a shadowed belligerent country," de Noli added.

The Integrity Initiative's list of participants, in particular, includes Bill Browder, the CEO of Hermitage Capital Management, and Vladimir Ashurkov, an associate of Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, according to Anonymous.

"Another, and remarkable feature observed in the published network-list of the UK Integrity Initiative, financed by British public funds, is the presence in that network of officials and individuals at decision-making level positions operating in different countries, and some exercising direct influence, or lobbying activity regarding military strategy and geopolitical issues. Some of those network members are already known of having a pro-NATO agenda," de Noli noted.

The project's documents leaked by the hackers, in particular, showed that the Integrity Initiative had received funding from the US State Department, NATO and Facebook. Anonymous claimed that the Integrity Initiative included covert structures capable of interfering in domestic affairs of France, Germany, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Norway, Serbia, Spain, and Montenegro.

The documents, published by Anonymous, showed that the Integrity Initiative's costs for the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2019, were estimated at 1.96 million Pounds ($2.51 million).