Who Framed “Agent Cobalt” and Why?

As the now famous “Agent Cobalt” story launched by “The Sunday Times” on October 6, 2024, unfolds, there are a number of points to offer from our perspective.

The so-called “investigations” by John Mooney is a well-known genre which we usually do not comment since it is simply the disinformation exercise by the Irish security agencies, which have been using such “investigative journalism” for a long time as a drain pipe for their “leaks” on the alleged Russian threat, often on a “friendly” advice from the neighboring country. Yet the follow up to the initial “Cobalt” story, no matter how trivial, even ridiculous it is, raises serious questions. What we see is a deliberate, demonstrative attempt by the special services to intimidate Irish public and their elected representatives, to scare them away from any communication or interaction with the Russian Embassy in Dublin. The intended purpose is clearly to impede normal diplomatic work of the Russian Embassy – or any other foreign diplomatic mission for that matter.

An embassy in any country, by definition, by its purpose, even by letter and spirit of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 should promote understanding and better relationships between peoples. That involves meeting and talking to people in Government, military, business, academic, cultural, religious circles. That is what we do and will continue to do in a transparent and open manner, helping people in Ireland to understand Russia, its views, traditions and values. If that is a national security threat, as someone in the Irish government wants you to believe, then they should be open enough to admit that the real agenda here is to demonize Russia to support the failed confrontational policy of the West.