Council of Europe restores Russia’s voting rights

[Shalcker]

https://www.politico.eu/article/coun...voting-rights/

Agreement resolves a dispute dating back to Moscow’s annexation of Crimea.

By Zia Weise 5/17/19, 2:12 PM CET Updated 5/17/19, 2:43 PM CET

Russia will remain in the Council of Europe after members of the human rights watchdog reached agreement Friday to resolve a years-long dispute that began after Moscow's annexation of Crimea.

Foreign ministers of the 47-nation organization overwhelmingly voted in favor of restoring Russia's voting rights, which the Council of Europe suspended after Moscow seized the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014.

In turn, Russia halted its membership payments in June 2017, ripping a hole in the organization's budget, of which Russia contributes around 7 percent.

That move put Russia at risk of suspension from the Council of Europe next month, as the body's regulations say a member country can be suspended after two years of non-payment — a worrying prospect for Russian human rights activists, as exiting the Council of Europe would have meant Russians losing access to the European Court of Human Rights.

With Friday's agreement, suspension was averted. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia would resume paying membership fees, news agencies reported.

France and Germany in particular had pushed for Russia to be welcomed back into the Council of Europe.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said after the vote: "It is good news that we agreed that Russia should remain in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Especially because this preserves the right of millions of Russians to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights."

The agreement was opposed by Kiev, which boycotted the foreign ministers' meeting on Friday. Six other countries — the U.K., Poland, Georgia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania — also reportedly opposed the ministers' declaration, which was adopted by qualified majority.

Got to say it is widely seen as mainly payment thing rather then real sign of "thawing out" as some might claim (or particular love of human right defences, for that matter).

Russia refused to pay for membership while it had no voting rights, and had fair share in budget of that particular nest of bureaucrats.

[Noradin]

https://www.politico.eu/article/coun...voting-rights/


Got to say it is widely seen as mainly payment thing rather then real sign of "thawing out" as some might claim (or particular love of human right defences, for that matter).

Russia refused to pay for membership while it had no voting rights, and had fair share in budget of that particular nest of bureaucrats.

Your opinion is exactly as expected.
Sadly.

[Software]

Yeah it's all about the Russian money man.

[Vankrys]

Yeah it's all about the Russian money man.

wait, Russia has money?

[Easo]

Money talks, as always.

wait, Russia has money?

Russia, not it's citizens.

[Felya]

Money talks, as always.

Russia, not it's citizens.

Oligarchs, not Russia or vast majority it’s citizens.

[Easo]

Oligarchs, not Russia or vast majority it’s citizens.

Ehh, both are one and the same right now. Putin got them under the heel and in the end both sides found out that working together brings greater benefits. To them only, of course.

[Ihavewaffles]

https://www.politico.eu/article/coun...voting-rights/


Got to say it is widely seen as mainly payment thing rather then real sign of "thawing out" as some might claim (or particular love of human right defences, for that matter).

Russia refused to pay for membership while it had no voting rights, and had fair share in budget of that particular nest of bureaucrats.

Isn't that organization fucking irrelevant?...

[Shalcker]

Isn't that organization fucking irrelevant?...

Yes, it is.

[Ihavewaffles]

Yes, it is.

Returning is wasting monies..

[Shalcker]

Returning is wasting monies..

It's all about image-making, noone cares about substance.

[Ihavewaffles]

It's all about image-making, noone cares about substance.

Most europeans forget that org even exists...