Russia’s foreign ministry has said they will no longer participate in the Council of Europe, the continent’s leading human rights organisation founded in response to the humanitarian outrages of the second world war.
The Kremlin said that Nato members were undermining the European body designed to uphold human rights, rule of law and democracy. In reality, Russia’s relationship with the Council of Europe has always been marked by confrontation.
Russia joined the Council of Europe in 1996, following an application by Boris Yeltsin as part of an attempt to embed the country’s transition to democracy.But the contradictions have been evident throughout. Some suggest Russia’s membership of the 47 country body has delegitimised it.
Russia’s rights of representation were suspended on 25 February – the day after the invasion of Ukraine. And they were previously suspended in 2001, following the second Chechen war, and in 2014 when Vladimir Putin invaded Crimea.
The Council of Europe is not related to the EU.
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