UNITED KINGDOM: Mixed reaction among London's Russian community to diplomatic row over Lugovoy extradition

The extensive Russian-speaking community in Britain appears to have mixed reactions to the recent diplomatic tensions between Russia and the UK, over Moscow's refusal to hand over a suspect in the poisoning of an ex-KGB spy in London. Beryozka is one of many Russian food shops in London, stocking such products as Russian pickles and special sausages. People go there not just out of nostalgia for the foodstuffs from their homeland, but also to chat about the latest news which affects the community. Shop assistant Ludmila says despite an increasing number of Russian shops in London, many people still like to travel to Berozka for their dose of Russian food and gossip. "Now we have more shops and fewer people. But we are doing our best to keep our customers, and they are loyal to us, some of them even travel from outside of London. Now there are so many shops like ours that people prefer to buy things in their own neighbourhoods," she said. Ludmila says that initially people seemed worried about the recent diplomatic row, but those concerns seem to have settled. "To be very honest I haven't noticed a big change. People are worried a bit, but we always try to calm them down. Our customers come here with their worries and we just calm them down," she said. Russia's ties with Britain have fallen to a post-Cold War low since Moscow's repeated refusal to extradite ex-KGB agent Andrei Lugovoy, accused by Britain of killing outspoken emigre and Kremlin critic, Alexander Litvinenko, in London. Last week the two countries engaged in tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats. Russia says its constitution does not allow it to extradite its citizens to other countries, and London's suggestions Moscow could amend the fundamental law drew official ire in Russia. Among those who have noticed an increasing strain between the two countries is the the owner of "Eventica". The organisation specialises in arranging large scale business and cultural events in the UK, such as the annual Russian Winter Festival in Trafalgar Square and the Russian Economic Forum. "To be honest, straight after Litvinenko's death we felt that relations started cooling off," said Eventica owner, Sergei Kolushev. "Through my work I am in constant touch with people from the Kremlin, members of the government, and representatives of big Russian businesses and we feel that the situation is getting worse. This year a number of high flying Russian businessmen and government representatives didn't attend the Russian economic forum and we thought that it was somehow linked to the tension between Russia and the UK. Let's see what will happen next," he added. Kolushev said the situation is leaving an unfortunate taint to business between the two nations. "I am a bit disappointed because one of the aims of my company is to help promote the image of Russian business. But unfortunately, despite all our efforts, the western community now has only two words in their minds related to Russia, that is "polonium" and "Litvinenko" and a couple of other things. I wish people could associate other things and words when they think of Russia," he said. But others believe the diplomatic stand-off is pure politics and the media attention around it has made things worse. "I think obviously its been a very high profile case, so people are aware of it," said Eventica's Edward Cowell. "But...It certainly hasn't caused a massive wave of resentment against Russians here or amongst Russians against Brits. And I don't believe it has caused a massive wave of resentment on the ground in Moscow. The resentment I think remains in amongst the authorities as opposed to the people who are actually on the ground, doing business and maintaining relationships between Britain and Russia," he added. "Angliya" is one of the UK's Russian-language newspapers. Editor Lesya Kolashnik says she believes people are more concerned about summer holidays, than politics. "Because everyone has got their own problems. And even such an issue that we are talking about is overshadowed by other issues such as: how to earn a living, how to educate the children and last but not least, where to spend summer holidays. To be honest, I don't think this is a serious problem and it cannot be seen as a serious issue," she said. On Monday (July 23), senior Russian prosecutor Alexander Zvyagintsev said Britain's expulsion of the diplomats was politically motivated. But Zvyaginstev said Russia was ready to cooperation with British investigators, if London was willing to share details of their case against Lugovoy with Moscow.

ITN Source | July 25, 2007

Tags:. .scale. .disappointed. .unfortunately. .tensions. .fallen