Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Russia Maria Zakharova accused the Council of Europe of being Russophobia and an instrument serving Western interests. The accusations came after Russia officially left the pan-European rights body.
“Due to Western Russophobia activity, the Council of Europe has lost its purpose,” Zakharova said in a statement AFP on Friday (18/3).
“By placing the service of the bloc’s interests above its own legal goals, the Council of Europe has turned into a compliant instrument of the European Union, NATO.”
In the statement, Zakharova said Russia had not changed or been affected because it was no longer a member of the Council of Europe.
“Russia does not accept Brussels’ oversight on human rights issues,” he said.
Previously, Russia officially stopped being a member of the European Council on Wednesday (16/3). They left after more than a quarter century of joining a pan-European rights body. Russia joined the Council of Europe from 28 February 1996.
The European Council’s exit decision was announced on Tuesday (16/3), ahead of the agency’s official decision to expel Russia as a result of invade Ukraine.
The decision was also made symbolically through the lowering and removing of the Russian flag outside the headquarters of the Council of Europe, Strasbourg, Eastern France, at around 14.30 local time. While the flags of 46 other member countries are still flying there.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said it had no regrets about leaving the European Council. They considered that the member states of the European Union and NATO had made the organization an instrument of anti-Russian policy.
This movement, known as Ruxit, prevented Russia from being a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights. Russian citizens will also no longer be able to submit applications to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
Russia is the second country to announce an exit in the history of the Council of Europe. The decision was Greece’s first after declaring a temporary exit in the late 1960s.
Russia had previously been suspended from all representation rights one day after tens of thousands of troops entered Ukraine on Thursday (24/2).
(afp / chri)
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