mr president russia is an important partner for the eu on many fronts but we cannot pretend that russia is a genuine democracy with a rule of law
unsolved murders of journalists and human rights defenders to politically-motivated show trials with acquiescent judges say it all in my view
why then is russia tolerated as a member of the council of europe
that is a very good question
undoubtedly the kremlin treasures this international legitimisation of a government described in the us diplomatic cables recently leaked by wikileaks as a virtual mafia state
conversely the council of europe is discredited by its continued acquiescence towards russia's authoritarian government
the european court of human rights has a backlog of twenty-seven zero cases from russia alone yet a russian judge on the court is able to order the british government to give british prisoners the right to vote
this not only exposes the absurdity of russia's membership of the council of europe but also encapsulates why the council of europe is in my view increasingly ignored internationally
sadly now and as a result of this many britons including politicians think it is time for the uk to review its membership of this organisation and its very intrusive court
