The Council of Europe expelled Russia from its membership

The Council of Europe (CoE), the pan-European human rights organization based in France, announced on Wednesday that it was expelling Russia from its member state, 26 years after it joined.

“At an extraordinary meeting this morning, the Committee of Ministers decided, in the context of the procedure initiated under Article 8 of the Statute of the Council of Europe, that the Russian Federation should cease to be a member of the Council of Europe from today,” the statement said. published on the Council of Europe website.

The decision follows an opinion adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council on Tuesday, which ruled that “the Russian Federation can no longer be a member of the Organization”, according to the statement.

The Council of Europe noted that Russia’s “unjustified and unprovoked attack” on Ukraine had led to the decision of the Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly to initiate the expulsion process of the Russian Federation.

Russia’s foreign ministry has said it will leave the pan-European institution, saying a “discriminatory decision” had been taken to suspend the country’s representation until February 25.

In a speech to the parliament’s parliamentary assembly on Monday, Ukrainian Prime Minister Dennis Smihal called for Russia to be expelled from the Council of Europe, saying Ukraine was “on fire”.

Unlike the European Union, the Council of Europe has 46 Member States and is also an official United Nations Observer. It is also the parent structure of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

Russia joined the Council of Europe on 28 February 1996.

“By their actions in Ukraine, the Russian authorities are depriving the Russian people of the advantage of the world’s most advanced human rights system, including the jurisdiction of the European Court of Human Rights and our vast system of conventions,” he said in a statement. Council on Tuesday.