Committee of Ministers decides Russia ceases to be a member of the Council of Europe
© Toni Sandell 2022
The Council of Europe quickly reacted to the Russian aggression against Ukraine, suspending the Russian Federation of its rights of representation as early as 25 February 2022.
On 10 March, in view of the continuing serious violations of the Council of Europe’s Statute, the Committee of Ministers decided to consult the Parliamentary Assembly onpotential further use of Article 8 of the Statute. This provision lays down the conditions and procedures under which a member State can be suspended and even excluded from the Organisation. In a historic vote on 15 March, the Parliamentary Assembly unanimously concluded that Russia could no longer be a member of the Council of Europe.
At the same time, Russia informed the Council of Europe Secretary General of its intention to leave the Organisation and denounce the European Convention on Human Rights.
Following the opinion of the Parliamentary Assembly, the Committee of Ministers, reaffirming that the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine constitutes a serious violation of the Statute, adopted by consensus the resolution to cease Russian membership as of 16 March. Russia joined the Council of Europe on 28 February 1996.
The Italian Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Chair of the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers, Luigi Di Maio, the President of the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly, Tiny Kox, and the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, reasserted in a joint statement the importance to “stand strong and united by Ukraine, its authorities and the Ukrainian people”.
The EU’s HR/VP for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell regretted that “as a result of Russia’s behaviour, Russian citizens will no longer benefit from the protections granted by the European Convention on Human Rights nor be able to take cases of violation of their human rights to the European Court of Human Rights.”
The European Court of Human Rights will decide on the legal implications of the Russian exclusion for the work of the Court. In the meantime, it has suspended the examination of all applications against the Russian Federation.
