Russia allowed to vote in Council of Europe again

Russia will be fully allowed back into the Council of Europe after being excluded from the entity’s voting procedures due to Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

Ministers from the 47 countries represented voted strongly in favor of Russia’s return on May 17 in Helsinki, Finland, after Germany and France pressed the Council to reinstate Russia’s membership. In a joint declaration, the Council said that all of its members would be allowed “to participate on an equal basis.”

In early May, France’s president told the Council’s president that “the Council of Europe needs Russia like Russia and the Russians need the Council of Europe, which means that their rights as a member state are respected but also that Russia fulfills its obligations toward the institution.”

Before the meeting, Ukraine’s foreign minister canceled his attendance because he believed that the Council would pass the resolution, which Ukraine would not stand for.

However, Russia’s return will likely help the Council; since Russia stopped paying its membership fees, the organization was missing almost $60 million in 2018.

Although some senior Russian officials had threatened to leave the Council altogether due to grievances with other nations, Russia’s foreign minister reassured other countries that Russia was committed to the Council and supports “the positive contribution” that the Council has previously made to help Russia’s internal judicial and humanitarian struggles.

Without the Council, which Russia had boycotted after losing its voting privileges, Russian citizens have been unable to use the European Court of Human Rights to appeal for cases that they deem the Russian government has not been just in.

A declaration such as this could be seen as the first stages of European countries starting to welcome Russia back into diplomacy after the annexation in 2014 and could pave the way for disputes to be settled more efficiently in the future.

However, Finland’s foreign minister said that this vote does not mean that sanctions on Russia from the annexation will be lifted, according to the AP.

“It’s clear that [Russia’s] behavior has to change,” Soini said.

Article by MoCo Student staff writer Matthew Rabinowitz of Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School