Miliband: Russian action reprehensible
Russia’s intimidation of staff at the British Council is a “stain” on its reputation, the foreign secretary said today.
Speaking as the British Council was forced to cease operations at its offices in St Petersburg and Ekaterinburg, David Miliband told MPs Russia’s actions were “reprehensible, not worthy of a great country, and contrary to the letter and spirit of the legal framework under which the British Council operates”.
On Tuesday Russian security services questioned 20 members of British Council staff in the two cities. Ten of them were visited late at night in their own homes and quizzed on everything from the status of the British Council to the welfare of their family pets.
The foreign secretary condemned the action as “blatant intimidation” by the Russian government.
Russia is now threatening to take further action, including removing accreditation from staff at the British Council in Moscow.
Mr Miliband confirmed the government had first been told by the Russian government in October that it would close British Council offices outside of Moscow on January 1st 2008.
He appeared to express surprise at Russia’s actions on Tuesday, however, telling MPs Downing Street’s foreign policy adviser had held “productive talks” in Moscow immediately prior to the questioning.
In a statement to MPs, Mr Milband said Russia had failed to show any reason under Russian or international law why the British Council should not operate.
He disputed Moscow’s claims that the council has not been paying tax, pointing out it is registered for tax and has complied with the authorities.
In the absence of any legal action the government had resorted to intimidation, the foreign secretary said.
“We saw similar actions during the Cold War but thought they had been put behind us.”
Mr Miliband declined to be drawn into a tit-for-tat response. He told MPs the British Council operates as a cultural institution and should not be used as a “political football”.
He said: “The immediate cost to the Russian people of the Russian government’s actions is their access to the benefits of British Council activity. The longer term cost is their country’s standing in the world as a responsible international player.”
Russia has now publicly stated that the action against the British Council is linked to the British investigation into the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, with Russia refusing to extradite the prime suspect.
Mr Miliband said the two should be regarded as “entirely separate issues”.
The Liberal Democrats immediately said Mr Miliband was right not to escalate the row further by placing restrictions on Russia’s cultural activities.
Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesman Ed Davey concurred Russia’s action is “quite unacceptable”.
“The Russian government needs to understand that these bullyboy tactics make them look increasingly ridiculous in the eyes of the international community,” he said.
