British Cancel

London has come to terms with Moscow's demands

The British authorities considered it best to comply with the demands of the Russian Foreign Ministry and stop the work of regional branches of the British Council . At the same time, the essence of the matter has not changed: in London they consider the demands of the Russian side to be unjustified and they are not going to curtail the work of the British Council. The decision is explained solely by pressure from Moscow.

The decision to close regional offices in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg was announced yesterday in a special statement by the executive director of the British Council, Martin Davidson. "The Russian authorities have made it impossible for us to continue our work in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, and therefore I have decided that we will cease our work in both cities," Davidson said. Now the council will try to cover all of Russia from the capital. “The British Council will continue its work from our office in Moscow for the benefit of 250 thousand Russians,” he assured. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who yesterday made a statement about the British Council in Parliament, expects that the Moscow office will try to expand its activities to Russian regions and compensate for the closure of regional offices.

The British, when announcing the decision, did not hide their attitude to what was happening. "It is wrong for the Russian authorities to link the British Council situation to wider political differences," Martin Davidson said. In his opinion, the activities of the council in Russia fully meet the requirements of Russian and international legislation.

David Miliband, who can hardly be accused of being too benevolent towards Russia, is nevertheless ready to be the first to show political prudence and stop the tide of mutual claims. “I have decided not to take action regarding Russian cultural activities in the UK,” said the head of the foreign policy department, speaking in parliament. He added that, in particular, the exhibition of masterpieces from Russian museums, for the sake of which a special law on guarantees of immunity was adopted in December, will not be sent back to Russia. Also, no measures will be taken against two Russian diplomats responsible for cultural work at the Russian Embassy in London, the head of the Foreign Office emphasized.

However, Miliband recalled that a number of administrative measures were taken against Russia in the summer of 2007 in response to the refusal to extradite to the United Kingdom businessman Andrei Lugovoy, accused by the British side of the murder of ex-FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko. These measures included restrictions on the issuance of visas for a number of Russian officials and the suspension of negotiations on easing the visa regime. "Implementation of these measures will continue to be strictly enforced," Miliband said. In addition, the minister once again condemned the actions of the FSB, which conducted “preventive conversations” with British Council employees in the regions.

Yesterday, the EU also joined in condemning Russia. A statement by the European Union on behalf of Slovenia, currently presiding over the EU, calling on Russia not to take any new actions that impede the work of the British Council, was distributed simultaneously with David Miliband's speech in parliament.

On December 12, 2007, the Russian Foreign Ministry demanded that London close the branches of the British Council in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg from January 1, 2008, citing their lack of the necessary legal status. The Russian Foreign Ministry noted that the British Council began operating in Russia in the early 90s and opened a central office in Moscow, then established 15 regional representative offices without legal registration. At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not make any claims against any Russian officials who, obviously, over the course of a decade and a half, showed “criminal” negligence in relation to the activities of the British Council.

Nina GUGUSHVILI, Andrey DENISOV