Jumping the gun: As calls for its expulsion grow, Russia announces 'Ruxit' from Council of Europe

In the history of the Council of Europe, this is only the second time a member state has announced it is leaving the organisation, the first being Greece which temporarily left in the late 1960s. Photograph:( AFP )

 

WION, Strasbourg, France, Mar 16, 2022  :  The Russian government announced Tuesday it would leave the Council of Europe amid mounting calls for Moscow to be expelled over its invasion of Ukraine.

Having essentially jumped before being expelled from the Strasbourg-based body, the Russian foreign ministry informed Secretary-General Marija Pejcinovic Buric of its departure.

As a result of the decision, Russia ends its quarter-century membership in the Council of Europe (COE) and opens the door to the reimposition of the death penalty if the authorities so choose.

By leaving the Council of Europe, Russia will no longer be a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and its citizens will lose access to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)

Responsibility for destruction of the common humanitarian space on the continent & the consequences for Council of Europe – which, without Russia, will lose its pan-European character – will be borne solely by those who are forcing us to take this step.

🔗https://t.co/79kDQi3E0N pic.twitter.com/j0maChWWUT

— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) March 15, 2022

Russia's exit will represent a major change to the ECHR, which serves as the court of last resort when all domestic options have been exhausted.

In the history of the Council of Europe, this is only the second time a member state has announced it is leaving the organisation, the first being Greece which temporarily left in the late 1960s.

Courtesy & source

Responsibility for destruction of the common humanitarian space on the continent & the consequences for Council of Europe – which, without Russia, will lose its pan-European character – will be borne solely by those who are forcing us to take this step.

🔗https://t.co/79kDQi3E0N pic.twitter.com/j0maChWWUT

— MFA Russia 🇷🇺 (@mfa_russia) March 15, 2022

tyle="font-family: arial;">A day after tens of thousands of troops entered Ukraine on February 24, Russia was stripped of all representation rights.

"As leaders of the Council of Europe we expressed on several occasions our firm condemnation of the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine," the Italian Foreign Minister, Luigi Di Maio, the president of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly, Tiny Kox, and the secretary-general of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejcinovic Buric, said in a joint statement.

"The Committee of Ministers will hold an extraordinary meeting tomorrow morning also in the light of today’s notification by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation of the Russian leadership’s decision to withdraw from the Council of Europe," they said.

Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal of Ukraine demanded Monday that Russia be expelled from the organisation, saying it had no right to continue being a member after sending troops into the pro-Western nation.

A statement was posted by the Russian foreign ministry on its Telegram account regarding "launching the procedure to exit the Council of Europe," adding that it had "no regrets" about leaving.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said the exit would not affect the rights and freedoms of Russian citizens and that existing European Court resolutions will continue to be implemented if they do not contradict Russian law.

They alleged that EU and NATO member states had turned the Council of Europe into an "instrument for anti-Russian policies".

(With inputs from agencies)