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colleagues.
Ukraine started the charge by announcing shortly after the Russian vote that it was going to suspend its participation in the European human rights organisation, but would participate in any vote on imposing sanctions on Russia.
The same day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed "disappointment" with the decision of the PACE "to approve without limitation" the rights of the Russian delegation.
Appeasement or practical politics
The decision to reinstate Russia has provoked a crisis amongst Europeans.
“Russia belongs in the Council of Europe – with all the rights and obligations that entails.” – Foreign Minister @HeikoMaas welcomes the compromise reached for Russia to remain in the @coe: “This is good news for Russia’s civil society,” the German foreign ministry tweeted.
What worries the older members of PACE is that if Russia leaves the Council then what little leverage western Europe has over Russia will be lost.
Excluding Russia would be a blow for human rights as Russia is now the only major European power that is not a member of either Nato or the European Union (EU). Expelling it would also mean it would no longer have to adhere to decisions made in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
Russia joined PACE in the early 90s and as part of its accession process was forced to repeal the notorious article 121 of the Criminal code that made sex between men illegal. Among the obligations Russia took on was to become a member of, and adhere to, the decisions of the ECHR.
Kicking Russia out of PACE would mean even this weak and ineffectual leverage would be lost and Russia could act with impunity. As a member, nominally any Russian has the right to appeal to the ECHR for justice in the face of Russian lawlessness and some do. However, as the ECHR has limited powers the court is unable to offer Russians citizens any real protection from the abuses of their own government.
Most of the commentary criticising the council’s decision focused on “appeasement” and pointed to the fact that Russia is backing separatist rebels in the Donbas, who are fighting an undeclared proxy war, Russia continues to occupy the Donbas, and half a dozen Ukrainian sailors captured during the Kerch Straight naval clash last November are still in Russian jails.
Behind the loss of leverage is the fear in some western capitals that if Russia is expelled from PACE it will only be pushed further and more irrevocably into the arms of China, which is starting to become more assertive on the international stage, and Russia will, in effect, leave Europe.
The counter argument is that the only way to deal with Russia is to isolate it, to expel it from PACE and to wait for social pressures to build up until the Russian people finally turn on President Vladmir Putin and oust him and his government.
However, the policy of isolation has been a failure so far. Sanctions have caused a great deal of economic pain and Russia’s economic growth is anaemic. Putin was forced to address four hours worth of domestic concerns during his annual call-in earlier this week, culminating in a promise to take the rubbish out but the RUB25.7 trillion ($390bn) investments planned for the 12 national projects designed to deal with this problem. But while Putin’s regime is struggling in the face the rising social discontent, it is nowhere near collapse.
12 RUSSIA Country Report July 2019 www.intellinews.com