Politicos call for Russia out of CoE
17.09.2008 | Andres Herkel , Mart Laar | English news
TALLINN - Prominent Estonian politicians Mart Laar and Andres Herkel have called for Russia to be kicked out of the Council of Europe.
The two politicians, both of whom are among the country's most high-profile lawmakers, made the comments in an article published in the German newspaper Die Welt and the Ukrainian newspaper Ukrainska Pravda on Wednesday.
"Russia's membership of the Council of Europe may have made some sense in the early days, when there was still some political pluralism. A few independent politicians, such as Sergey Kovalev, the eminent human rights activist, represented the country in the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly," the article said. "But that time is long past."
"Of the many ways in which Russiais exceptional, its membership of Europe's premier human rights body, the Council of Europe, is perhaps the most embarrassing," it said.
The Baltic Times in cooperation with BNS
