US 'Anti-Russian Threat' Aid Package May Entail Huawei-Style Actions - EU Lawmaker

The United States may use the same approach in countering the alleged Russian threat through its prospective $500 million aid package as it does with Chinese giant producer Huawei, which it has accused of espionage, a member of the European Parliament told Sputnik

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th March, 2019) The United States may use the same approach in countering the alleged Russian threat through its prospective $500 million aid package as it does with Chinese giant producer Huawei, which it has accused of espionage, a member of the European Parliament told Sputnik.

On Monday, US President Donald Trump requested half a billion Dollars in his 2020 budget proposal to provide support for countries in Europe and Asia to counter Russia's alleged malign influence. The Wall Street Journal reported on the same day that the US ambassador in Berlin, Richard Grenell, had warned German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier that the US administration would limit intelligence data sharing with the German government if Huawei was allowed to participate in the development of German telecommunications infrastructure.

"I feel some type of indirect activities will follow. If we evaluate the whole activity around suspect Huawei hard and software intelligence use by the Chinese government, I am sure some similar mechanism is prepared to be used in the case of replacement of any Russian technology as well as Primary materials," Jaromir Kohlicek, an EU lawmaker from the Czech Republic, said.

However, foreign states should be smart enough to decline aid funds from the United States on countering the alleged threat coming from Russia if that support is solely dedicated to nurturing the anti-Russian sentiment, the lawmaker noted.

"If there is just some type of support of the various 'think tanks' or NGO concentrated strictly to the development of Russophobic ideas, the refusal of this money has to be quite a logical step of any responsible government," Kohlicek added.

Huawei has recently faced allegations of links to the Chinese government and even involvement in espionage on its behalf, something that the company has vehemently denied. In mid-August, Trump enacted legislation banning government agencies from using services from Huawei and ZTE, another Chinese company, against the background of the ongoing scandal.