Muristek
Ambassadors gather at The Council of Europe in Strasbourg, eastern France February 24, 2022, ahead of a debate on the situation in Ukraine after Russia launched an invasion. — AFP pic
Follow us on Instagram and subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates.
STRASBOURG, Feb 26 — The Council of Europe said yesterday it is suspending all representatives of Russia from participation in the pan-European rights body over Moscow’s attack against Ukraine.
Permanent representatives of member states “agreed to suspend the Russian Federation from its rights of representation in the Council of Europe,” invoking Article 8 of its statute, a statement said.
The decision takes effect immediately and affects the rights of representation of Russia in the Committee of Ministers and in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
However the decision does not affect the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which is part of the Council of Europe.
The Russian judge remains a member of the court and applications introduced against Russia will continue to be examined and decided by the court, it said.
“Suspension is not a final measure but a temporary one, leaving channels of communication open,” the Council of Europe emphasised in the statement.
Yesterday's Council of Europe vote passed easily, but not unanimously, among the body’s 47 member states.
According to Germany’s Der Spiegel, Russia voted against its own suspension and was joined by Armenia.
Fellow Council of Europe member Azerbaijan did not take part in the vote at all, the German news weekly reported.
Turkish abstention
Meanwhile Nato member Turkey abstained.
“During the vote in Strasbourg, Turkey chose to abstain,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told the NTV channel.
“We don’t want to cut off the dialogue” with Russia, he added.
Ankara has repeatedly called the Russian invasion of Ukraine “unacceptable”.
Turkey, which had offered to mediate in an attempt to avoid a conflict between Moscow and Kyiv, is seen as an ally of Ukraine.
But it is also highly dependent on Russia for gas and grain, and in 2019 took delivery of an advanced Russia missile defence system.
Turkey has so far refused to accede to Ukraine’s request to close the Dardanelles strait, and thus access to the Black Sea, to Russian ships.
Article 8 of the Council of Europe’s statute allows the suspension of a member’s representation rights and — in a later step — even exclusion from the body.
Russia, a Council of Europe member since 1996, has already in the past been the target of such sanctions — after its annexation of the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula of Crimea in 2014.
Then, the Russian delegation in the PACE was deprived of voting rights.
Russia responded by boycotting the sessions of the assembly and suspending the payment of contribution to the council’s budget.
The dispute was resolved and Russia’s rights restored in 2019 in a deal championed by French President Emmanuel Macron — then seeking to rekindle relations with Russia — but which infuriated Kyiv.
Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejcinovic Buric described the attack on Ukraine as a “flagrant violation” of the statute of the Council of Europe and the ECHR which the body oversees.
“This is a dark hour for Europe and everything it stands for,” she said. — AFP