It is a thought-provoking coincidence that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) passed the very harsh resolution against our country on the memorable and tragic for Russia day of June 22, the day fascist Germany attacked the USSR in 1941. The document was passed after a discussion of a report on Moscow's honoring the commitments made by Russian authorities on entering the Council of Europe in 1996.
The resolution sharply criticizes Russia for "the state of democracy in that country". PACE urges Moscow to make adjustments in the reforms currently underway in Russia and speed up the fulfillment of its commitments to the Council of Europe. The Assembly views "the package of reforms aimed at strengthening the power vertical as undermining in many respects the system of restraints and counterbalances needed for the normal functioning of any democracy".
One of the authors of the report on the state of Russia's affairs, British parliamentarian Davis Atkinson, claimed in his address that "Russia is not a free democratic country yet", that "it does not hold fair elections", its TV and radio broadcasting is "neither politically unbiased, nor free of state control". The Russian judiciary system "despite some reforming, is not yet free of corruption and political influence".
The document also calls for Russian authorities to definitively abolish the death penalty and to prosecute those who are responsible for violating human rights, especially in Chechnya. PACE deputies believe that the main threats to democracy in Russia are the conflict in Chechnya, "shady privatization dealings" and corruption.
Russia has been urged to withdraw "without delay" its troops, weapons and equipment from Moldovan territory (from Cis-Dniestria). The PACE resolution has actually recognized "the occupation of the Baltic states by the USSR" and demands that Russia pay compensation to deported persons. The document demands that Moscow speedily sign the treaty on the border with Latvia and return all cultural assets allegedly removed from the Baltic states to the USSR. It must immediately open all its archive documents aged over 50 years. Finally, PACE members recommended, by 76 votes against 40, that Russia stop providing financial and political support to Byelorussia.
Notably, when the amendments were being moved into the draft resolution, the Baltic states and Georgia made a united front and insisted on the toughest wording in respect of Russia. As justly pointed out by a number of observers, these countries (plus Azerbaijan which attempted to write into the resolution a demand for Russia to withdraw its troops from Georgia not to Armenian territory, but rather straight to Russia) have in fact vigorously used the PACE ground to air their bilateral problems with Russia. All of which flagrantly contradicts the PACE mandate for monitoring the situation in Russia and has no bearing whatsoever on its democratization.
True, the PACE leadership tried to play down the over-exacerbating tone of the resolution, indicating in the preamble "the undoubted progress in the matter of strengthening the supremacy of right and democracy in Russia". Also, some of the most absurd proposals were turned down, such as denying the authority of the Russian delegation because the death penalty has not been officially abolished in Russia (it has not been applied in Russia for over 10 years) or the amendment proposed by the Georgian delegation demanding that Russia withdraw its bases not only from Georgia, but also from the entire Trans-Caucasian region.
However, all these attenuations had little effect on the general anti-Russian tone of the resolution. No wonder, the Russian delegates found many of the positions of the PACE resolution unjust and groundless. The head of the Russian delegation, Konstantin Kosachev, told journalists after the voting that he was disappointed with the course of the discussions. According to K. Kosachev, the amendments incorporated into the resolution on request of the Baltic states contain positions that are "absolutely unacceptable" to Russia.
K. Kosachev also said that, in his view, Russia might scale down its contribution to the budget of the Council of Europe, as at the moment these funds are spent, inter alia, on financing the activities of Russia-hating politicians. At the same time, the head of the Russian delegation noted that Moscow is open to constructive criticism. In particular, Russia, where execution of the death penalty has been suspended, needs, in the long run, its formal legislative abolishment. Also, a federal law on the transformation of the state mass media, including TV and radio channels, into public structures is currently under consideration.
The indignation of the Russian delegates was also roused by PACE's hypocritical assertions about "the dominance of oligarchs in many fields of Russian economy". Admitting that, how is one to view PACE's nearly-hysterical reaction to the Yukos case and the other attempts of Russian authorities to conduct criminal investigations into the economic abuses of the 1990s? PACE's demand that Russia wind up its association with Byelorussia looks absurd as well, as relations between Moscow and Minsk lie beyond the scope of PACE's competence.
Considering all these factors, the Russian delegation expressed a view that monitoring cannot be called the best tool in the Council of Europe's kit and proposed to terminate the monitoring in Russia already at the beginning of next year. This prospect extremely alarmed the deputies from the Baltic states. Thus, the Estonian deputy said that the process of monitoring must be continued by all means, so as "to make Moscow fulfill its obligations assumed at the entry into PACE".
To top it all, there are voices already in PACE corridors and thereabouts to the effect that even such a tough resolution in respect of Moscow is "not substantive enough". Some European parliamentarians and human rights watchers even call on the leaders of "the significant European states" to resolutely renounce their friendly tone in contacts with President Putin, until Russia becomes "a genuinely free and democratic country".
All this story with the passing of another anti-Russian resolution serves only to confirm the sad fact that PACE is ever more becoming an anti-Russian forum and an arena for holding PR actions aimed at discrediting the international prestige of our country and weakening its positions and the role it plays in the world.
In this context, it would be only just and proper if the repeated declarations about the possibility of considerably scaling down the Russian contributions to the PACE budget do materialize. Strange as it may seem, Russia is at the moment one of the five biggest sponsors of that organization, transferring 23 million Euros to its account annually.
Possibly, the prospect of losing such an important source of funding would cool down the fervor of Russia-haters in Strasbourg. Failing that, Russia could suspend its membership in or even walk out of PACE. Indeed, apart from the constant rebuking, insults and arrogant lecturing, Russia has so far got no noticeable gains from joining PACE.
