EU and NATO countries have abused their majority in the Council of Europe (CE) to steadily transform this organisation into an anti-Russia policy tool, while rejecting dialogue on equal terms and refusing to abide by the principles underlying this pan-European organisation. On February 25, they adopted a discriminatory decision to suspend Russia's representation in the statutory bodies of the Council of Europe.

As such, our country will not remain part of the Council of Europe. On March 15, CE Secretary General Marija Pejcinovic-Buric was notified of the Russian Federation’s withdrawal from this organisation.

Responsibility for the destruction of the common humanitarian and legal space on the continent and the consequences for the Council of Europe – which, without Russia, will lose its pan-European character – will be borne solely by those who are forcing us to take this step.

In 1996, when we joined this organisation, which was created to consolidate the unity of European peoples, it positioned itself as a depoliticised entity destined to become the humanitarian and legal fabric of Greater Europe from Lisbon to Vladivostok. Russia has always been committed to equal cooperation within the Council of Europe in the interests of its people. Over the years and through joint efforts, much has been done to build on Russian legislation and law enforcement and to strengthen the human rights system in our country, including through incorporating the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) into Russian legislation.

However, the unifying potential of the Council of Europe has been destroyed by the EU and NATO countries. They see this organisation only as a means of ideological support for their military-political and economic expansion to the east and are imposing a rules-based order that is beneficial to them and that is, in fact, a game without rules. The CE institutions, including the ECHR, have been systematically used to put pressure on Russia and interfere in its internal affairs. The organisation is mired in double standards. Our desire to advance a unifying agenda in accordance with the goals and objectives of the CE Charter was vehemently rejected. In particular, all our attempts to draw attention to the plight of the people in Donbass, who have been subjected to barbaric shelling for eight years now, ran into a wall of indifference.

The organisation has, in fact, lost its multi-dimensional character and turned into an entity that aggressively imposes a neoliberal approach to human rights in violation of the principles and values ​​enshrined in the CE Charter and the foundational conventions.

Considering what the Council of Europe has become, we part ways without regret. Our country’s withdrawal from this organisation will not affect the rights and freedoms of Russian citizens. The Constitution of the Russian Federation does not provide lesser guarantees of them than the European Convention on Human Rights. The provisions of the core CE treaties and legal acts are incorporated in Russian legislation. Rulings of the European Court of Human Rights issued to date will remain in force provided they do not violate the Constitution of the Russian Federation.

Russia is a party to the key universal international human rights treaties concluded within the UN. This includes the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other treaties that guarantee a wider range of human rights and freedoms than regional CE documents.

As it departs the Council of Europe, Russia remains open to pragmatic and equitable interaction with members of this organisation on matters of mutual interest and within the framework of the conventions we decide to remain in.

Организация фактически утратила свой многоотраслевой характер, превратившись в структуру агрессивного насаждения неолиберального подхода к правам человека в нарушение закрепленных в Уставе СЕ и базовых конвенциях принципов и ценностей.

С таким Советом Европы расстаемся без сожаления. Выход нашей страны из этой организации не повлияет на права и свободы российских граждан. В Конституции Российской Федерации установлены не меньшие их гарантии, чем в Европейской конвенции по правам человека. Положения основных договорно-правовых актов Совета Европы включены в российское законодательство. Продолжится выполнение уже принятых постановлений Европейского Суда по правам человека, если они не противоречат Конституции Российской Федерации.

Россия - участник основных универсальных международных договоров по правам человека, заключенных в рамках ООН. Речь идет о Международном пакте о гражданских и политических правах, Международном пакте об экономических, социальных и культурных правах, Международной конвенции о ликвидации всех форм расовой дискриминации, Конвенции о правах ребенка и других договорах, которыми гарантируется более широкий спектр прав и свобод человека, чем региональными документами СЕ.

Покидая Совет Европы, Россия остается открытой к прагматичному и равноправному взаимодействию с членами Организации по вопросам, представляющим взаимный интерес, и в рамках тех конвенций, участие в которых мы решим продолжать.