Boris Johnson’s tough friendship with the son of a Russian millionaire close to the Kremlin

Amid the hunt for Vladimir Putin’s friends, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was overtaken by relations with Evgeny Lepadov. The two have been friends since Boris Johnson took over as Mayor of London in 2008. Evgeny Lepadev is a “son”: in this case, the former KGB agent Alexander Lepadev became a millionaire because of his proximity to the Kremlin. In 2020, the head of state appoints his friend to the House of Lords.

Today, the appointment comes back in the face of Boris Johnson because the profile of this Russian newspaper editor, who owns two newspapers in the UK, The Independent And Evening standard, That being said it is worrying.

However, two years ago, MI6, the UK’s most popular foreign intelligence service, issued a warning to the Prime Minister against the appointment. It Sunday Times This reveals the document. But at the time, Boris Johnson dismissed the objection and appointed Lepede to the House of Lords. Inside this topic Upper House of the British Parliament in 2020 – Granted for life – Evgeny Lepadev allowed a little more settlement in the heart of good British society, he continued to appear with already selected officials and movie stars.

Today, Khair Stormer, the Leader of the Opposition in the United Kingdom, captures this question. “The more the media digs, the more the reservation of intelligence services appears to be serious The choice of the Prime Minister should be highly questionedHe says. We can not be idle: this is good, this appointment happened … it is a question of national security. Let’s set up a process to understand what happened: What does Boris Johnson know? What did he do for this information?The politician accuses.

Were all precautionary measures taken before appointing his son to the House of Lords? “Mr. Lepadev … Lord Lepadev, owner of the Evening Standard, is a British citizen.”Minister Michael Cove responds, arguing that the government is heavyweight“On the first page of his diary, Lord Lepedov condemned Mr Putin’s decision. We need to differentiate between what parents do and what children do.”

In That tribune, released March 11In his free diary, Evgeny Lepadev Wrote:I am not a security risk to this country I love“, He said “It is important not to fall into russophobia“.