British Council Refuses to Leave Russia

By Brent Surgeoner
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Europe

MOSCOW, Russia – Britain refused to close its British Council offices on Tuesday despite Russia’s insistence that the offices close down by January 1st.

The order to close, which was promulgated on December 12, is one of the many tit-for-tat actions that have contributed to the recent rift between Russia and Britain.

The fallout began back in November 2006 after former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko died of radiation poisoning in London.  Thereafter, Russia refused to extradite the main suspect in the murder, Andrei Lugovoi, to the UK.

This led to the back and forth expulsion of diplomats and accusations of espionage between the two countries.

The British Council row, however, has been brewing for three years.

Russia has accused the Council of violating international and domestic laws.  One specific allegation is that the Council owes taxes because it is a for-profit organization.

However, the British Council says it has complied with all laws, including a 1994 UK-Russia Agreement on Cooperation in Education, Science and Culture, as well as the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

Britain argues that the Council is a non-governmental organization which operates as the “cultural arm” of the British Embassy.

Its first office opened in Moscow in the 1990s and gradually sprouted to 14 regional offices throughout Russia.  However, the British Council agreed to shutdown all of its regional offices in October, with the exception of the Moscow, Yekaterinburg and St. Petersburg branches.

Russia nonetheless insisted that all offices, except the Moscow branch be closed.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called the order unacceptable and insisted that Moscow withdraw its demands.

It remains to be seen how Russia will respond to Britain’s defiance.  Russia’s New Years break lasts 2 weeks, so the British Council office has said it will do “everything in [its] power” to reopen on January 14th.

“We are in constant discussion with the Russian authorities and we are very much hoping this can be resolved over the next two weeks,” said a British Council spokeswoman.

Officials from both the United States and the European Union have expressed their hopes that the British Council will be allowed to continue operations in Russia.

There is also some talk about whether the British Council quarrel could hinder Russia-EU negotiations over a new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA).  The last PCA expired in November 2007.

For more information, please see:

Yahoo (Reuters) - UK defies Russia on British Council ban - 1 January 2008

International Herald Tribune - Britain vows to defy Russian order to shutter cultural organization offices - 1 January 2008

RIA Novosti - U.S., EU hope British Council will continue to work in Russia – 29 December 2007