The pro-Kremlin Nashi youth movement has been a leader in Russian-British relations. The demanded the recall of Ambassador Tony Brenton (left) for spending money on public organizations in Russia.
Photo: Êèðèëë Òóëèí
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Russia Wants British Councils Closed
Russian-British relations hit a new rough spot yesterday when the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that the regional branches of a nonprofit educational organization was closing – the British Council in Russia. The Foreign Ministry practically admitted the political basis for its decision, charging that Great Britain took “unfriendly actions” during the scandal over the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko. The British Foreign Office called the Russian actions “illegal.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement yesterday saying that all regional branches of the British Council would cease functioning on January 1. Only the Moscow office of the organization will remain open. Mikhail Kamynin, an official ministry representative, said that there is no legal basis for the British Council's operations in Russia. The Foreign Ministry's objections are that the British Council's legal status is not confirmed by documentation, that is, the regional branches were opened without permission from Russian authorities, and British Council offices are not supposed to be located on the territory of consulates, since that gives its employees diplomatic immunity. The Foreign Ministry also mentioned that financial charges had been made against the British Council more than once.
In 2006, the Ekaterinburg regional office of the Foreign Ministry demanded that the local British Council office leave the territory of the consulate there, threatening to close down its activities if it failed to do so. As a result, the British Council announced in October of this year that it was leaving several regions and closing down individual programs, claiming a plan for “global reorganization” of its activities in Russia. Cultural centers in nine regions (out of 15) will turn their property over to their Russian partners, which are universities or teachers training institutes and their books will be donated to local libraries.
Kommersant was told at the British embassy that a similar situation arose in India.
The legal basis for the operation of the British Council branches in Russia should have been a bilateral agreement on cultural centers, the Foreign Ministry said. But its approval was delayed due to “unfriendly actions in relation to the Russian Federation taken by the British side in July of this year accompanied by a while set of discriminatory measures.” It was referring to strains in Russian-British relations at the height of the Litvinenko case, when British authorities accused Moscow of being unwilling to cooperate in the investigation. Russia refused to extradite suspect Andrey Lugovoi.
“We strongly reject any attempt to link it to Russia's failure to cooperate with our efforts to bring the murder of Alexander Litvinenko to justice," a Foreign Office spokesman said in response to Russian statements, adding that Britain had tried to conclude an agreement on cultural centers with Russia for nine years.
Statements made by the British yesterday indicate that they do not intend to abide by the Foreign Ministry order. British Council press secretary Natalia Minchenko stated that the organization “does not intend to close its regional offices, specifically.”
The seriousness with which the British government is taking the Russian political gesture can be judged from the words of British Foreign Secretary David Miliband. “We think this is a very serious and illegal measure," he said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov responded yesterday evening in an interview with BBC, saying, “The decision to close the regional branches of the British Council in the Russian Federation has a legal, not political, basis.” He added, however, that “The British government has taken measures that have caused systematic damage to our relations.”
History of the British Council in Russia
The British Council was founded in 1934 under the aegis of the British Foreign Office as an independent and nonpolitical organization to promote the United Kingdom abroad through the development of scientific and cultural ties. For that purpose, it organizes various educational programs, including language instruction, throughout the world, as well as student exchanges, exhibits, festivals and scientific seminars and conferences. It is partially funded by the state and partially earns its own money through various paid services. Its budget in 2206-2007 was £551 million, of which £195 million was received as a grant from the British Foreign Office.
The British Council Moscow office opened in 1945. In 1947, however, it was closed because of worsening relations between the USSR and United Kingdom. In 1967, the British Council began to work through the British Embassy in Moscow. In 1992, the Council's first informational office was opened in Moscow and, in 1994, it received the status of embassy cultural center. Later, the Council opened offices in 16 regions of Russia: St. Petersburg, Arkhangelsk, Volgograd, Ekaterinburg, Irkutsk, Kaliningrad, Krasnoyarsk, Murmansk, Nizhny Novgorod, Novgorod, Omsk, Petrozavodsk, Pskov, Rostov-on-Don, Samara and Sochi.
About 400,000 Russians took part in Council projects every year, including 20,000 who took language exams.
In early 2004, the Russian Foreign Ministry accused the British Council of illegal commercial activity and nonpayment of taxes on funds raised from English-language courses. The Council responded that it considers itself the cultural department of the diplomatic mission and so is not liable to taxation. The charges were dropped after the June 10 meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and British Prime Minister Tiny Blair. In July 2005, the prosecutor's office of St. Petersburg initiated a criminal case against the local British Council branch. The case again was centered on its English lessons. In December of that year, after payment of back taxes and registration of all offices of the Council with tax authorities, the case was dropped, but English courses in St. Petersburg were discontinued. On October 25, 2007, in a meeting with British Ambassador to Russia Anthony Brenton, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov demanded that the British Council regional branches be removed from consular territory and be stripped of diplomatic immunity. In response, the British announced that the Council would discontinue it programs in the regions.
Yulia Taratuta
All the Article in Russian as of Dec. 13, 2007
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