Boris Makarenko, first deputy director general of the Political Technologies Center, attends the presentation ceremony of the center's report on the political system in Russia. The presentation took place in Marriott Grand Hotel in Moscow.
Photo: Dmitry Lebedev
| Other Photos |
 |
|
 |
Niceties Exchange
We can compile a long list of tensions which appeared in the relations between Russia and the Council of Europe in recent years. Here is the criticism for Chechnya, the PACE resolution on condemnation of totalitarian regimes, the incessant five-finger exercitations of Baltic and Polish parliamentarians. However, it’s not about them: the Council of Europe is one of the two pan-European organizations in which Russia is a full-right member, and Russia’s relations with the CE are at least not worse than with the second organization, the OSCE.
It is about three specific issues which separate Russia and the CE today. Two of them are protocols #6 (legislative abolishment of death penalty) and #14 (the Strasbourg International Court reform), which Russia has not ratified yet. There is nothing tragic with protocol #6. The CE has been urging us for many years to ratify it, and is waiting patiently, because Russia has a truly democratic argument: the public opinion is not ready yet. There is something else which is upsetting: a few weeks ago, Konstantin Kosachev expressed prudent optimism over the protocol’s ratification by the new Duma, and was ready to personally urge the lawmakers in the step’s necessity. Now, however, he returned to old arguments: the society is not ready for protocol #6, and protocol #14 will be ratified when Russia makes sure the court “is not used in political purposes”.
Did we really want to exchange the progress in our stand on the protocols for our representative’s presidency in the PACE? That is the third obstacle in the relations. Former election procedure gave that position to the Russian parliamentarian almost automatically. However, Europe decided it does not want a Russian in so high a position now. Two major PACE factions, “people’s” and socialist, supported the new order of presidency rotation, which took away the position from Russia. Interpreting into Russian, these are right- and left-of-center parties which make up the basis of ruling coalitions in most European countries. It is not so much a move of a rarely gathering assembly of national parliaments’ members, as the stand of the majority of the lawmaker corps of entire Europe. It is ready to pragmatically develop cooperation with Russia, but it does not want to give the chairing position to a Russian. (Translation: a Russian cannot speak on behalf of united Europe). Meanwhile, experienced Europeans easily perform tricks like “rotation procedure reform”.
We can only suppose whether the ‘niceties exchange’ (you give us the speaker position, and we give you the protocols) was planned ahead. Anyway, it does not change the essence: certainly, Russia has the right to hope that its representatives will be holding high European positions. Yet, we also need effective European court. Especially since the share of Russian cases in its ‘portfolio’ is so high. Many Russians turn to Strasbourg because they failed to find justice at home. Moreover, we will have to abolish death penalty, for there is no other way for a European country in the 21st century. If we ratify these two protocols, Russia’s representative will take the seat of PACE president much earlier.
Boris Makarenko, first deputy director general of the Political Technologies Center
All the Article in Russian as of Jan. 22, 2008
|
|
|
