Page 33 - RusRPTAug21

2.10 Politics - misc
Europe’s top human rights court has ordered Russia to recognize same-sex unions in a new ruling on July 13. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR)’s ruling came in response to complaints filed in 2010 by three Russian same-sex couples whose attempts to register their marriages in Russia were rejected. The ECHR judges unanimously ruled that Russia violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights — the right to respect for private and family life — by not granting legal status to the couples’ unions, the court said in a press release.
The investigative outlet Proekt’s US based Project Media Inc. has been declared “undesirable” by the Russian Prosecutor General. It is illegal to work for an undesirable organization on the territory of the Russian Federation. Proekt’s editor-in-chief Roman Badanin, along with four Proekt journalists, have been deemed “foreign agents.” While other publications have been targeted by the state, this is the first media outlet to receive the undesirable status. Undesirable organizations have their funds and property blocked in Russia, their branches are closed, and sharing information about them is prohibited. Donating to undesirable organizations can result in prison time. Proekt has responded by liquidating its U.S. registered company and promising that its journalists will continue on in a new form. Badanin has pledged to release groundbreaking news next week despite the personal risk now posed by the General Prosecutor’s decision.
Germany must not offer the full capacity of its Opal gas pipeline to Russia’s Gazprom as that would breach the EU’s rule of energy solidarity, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) said on July 15. The CJEU’s ruling ends years of dispute centering on the issue of whether EU member states can shape their energy policies disregarding the interests of other member states. Opal runs off the land section of Nord Stream 1, through which Gazprom is pumping gas directly to Germany via the Baltic Sea. Initially, the Russian company could only operate Opal at up to 50% of its capacity.
Some more details of the agreements struck by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to St Petersburg this week have emerged. Amongst the deals agreed, Gazprom will not index 2022 prices and has promised to keep natural gas prices at 2021 levels (an already heavily discounted $128.50 per cubic metre). Agreements were also made to keep looking at fixes for the losses Belarus will incur from Russia’s oil sector tax manoeuvre – a change in the way Russia taxes oil exports that will remove subsidies Belarus used to get – and talked about more loans the Belarusian state desperately needs.
Russia has warned the US against deploying troops in ex-Soviet Central Asian nations following the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in remarks published on July 13. He noted that Moscow previously communicated this message to Washington during a summit held by Russian President Vladimir Putin with US President Joe Biden in Geneva last month. He also said that Russia has sent a similar warning to Central Asian nations.
33 RUSSIA Country Report August 2021 www.intellinews.com