Claims of Russian Interference Into Brexit 'Absolutely Laughable' - Analyst

Sputnik: Are these Western claims really justified? 

Marko Gasic: This claim is part of a coordinated campaign to silence the Russian voice, which has been quite persuasive through the channel RT  and Sputnik, which are absolutely legitimate outlets. This is part of a Russophobic tendency to disqualify any pro-Russian perspective, even neutral attitude towards Russia. We should also see this in the context of  [the US move] to force RT to register as a foreign agent. Russians are better at the persuasion business than the traditional Western persuaders, and the Western persuaders don’t like it.

Sputnik: On Monday Theresa May accused Moscow of meddling in the internal affairs of other countries. We also hear similar accusations coming from Britain’s cybersecurity chief Ciaran Martin. Do you see this as a coordinated attack on Russia and if so, then what is the goal of such an attack?

Marko Gasic: Theresa May and those behind her give themselves the right to interfere in anybody’s elections and I’m sure that nobody is claiming in the West that they don’t have thousands of trolls overtly intervening in elections in all the targeted countries. They have admitted to spending billions in Ukraine, in Yugoslavia they told the people not to vote for the incumbent president Milosevic otherwise the people would suffer from sanctions. The West does not hide its own interference but at the moment it isn’t talking about it. It wants a two-tier world where Western interference in the democratic process is presented as absolutely fine and dandy and anyone else who does the same or even thinks of doing it is accused of doing the most terrible thing.    

Sputnik: Is it really possible that some Twitter posts could determine the outcome of such a nationwide election as Brexit?

Marko Gasic: The main voters for Brexit were people who felt a bit disenfranchised, people in the north, working class, traditional English voters who are not known for their great participation in the “Twitterati” debate going on mostly between the elite. The idea that some Twitter debate could influence the Brexit results is absolutely laughable.

Sputnik: The US has also failed to prove that Russia was involved in the 2016 presidential election. So why does the West keep insisting that Russia has influenced elections abroad and what could this instigation possibly lead to?

READ MORE: Spanish Gov't Finds No Data on Alleged Russian Meddling in Catalonia's Affairs

Marko Gasic: Well, you have a world superpower that gives itself the right to run the world with its allies and interfere everywhere, any time without any recourse to any kind of international legitimacy. It is “might makes right,” we are the US, we are exceptional, we can do what we like. Britain is permitted to join us in this unilateral behavior, but no one else must even think about doing that.