Russia to rejoin Council of Europe

Ukraine boycotts meeting over Crimean issue

The increasing weakness and instability of your government means there cannot be confidence in securing whatever might be agreed between us.

Britain Labour leader writing to Prime Minister Theresa May FOREIGN ministers from the Council of Europe, the continent’s chief human rights watchdog, reached an agreement yesterday that opens the way for Russia to return to the organisation, resolving a dispute that began after Moscow’s seizure of Crimea.

The agreement follows efforts by France and Germany to find a compromise among the 47-nation group and means Russia will likely take part in a meeting of the council’s parliamentary assembly next month, when key new appointments will be made.

Russia indicated it would resume payment of its membership dues as a result. It stopped payment nearly two years ago after its voting rights in the council were suspended over its 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

Ukraine, supported by six other countries, tried unsuccessfully to block the agreement, which was approved by a qualified majority, diplomats said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov welcomed the move.

“We do not intend to leave the council as some people are trying to suggest… and we are not refusing to fulfill a single obligation, including financial ones,” Lavrov said in Helsinki, where the meeting was held. Finland currently chairs the council.

The Russian spat has prompted questions about the future and durability of the 70-year-old Council of Europe, the guardian of the European Convention on Human Rights and the creator of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

It also left a €90 million (R1.4billion) hole in the council’s budget since Russia accounts for about 7% of contributions.

France and Germany have been keen to keep Russia inside the council, arguing that if it was outside it would be harder for any human rights abuses to be flagged and pursued by the court.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin boycotted yesterday’s meeting. Officials said they understood Kiev’s frustration, but that the council was not the place to resolve the Crimea issue.

“Ukraine has every reason to demand Crimea’s restoration,” said Nina Nordstrom, head of human rights policy at the Finnish foreign ministry. “But matters of peace and war between countries are not solved within this organisation.”

Britain, Poland, Georgia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined Ukraine in opposing the agreement, diplomats said, while 39 countries backed it.

Criticising the agreement on Twitter, Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said Russia was continuing its “aggression” against Ukraine and said European values meant very little if they were not defended. |