Russia’s Return to Council of Europe Opposed with Demonstration

The Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly erupted in protests as the Russian delegate Piotr Tolstoy took to the stand. The complaints were mainly about Russia’s return to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly. The protestors accused the Assembly of deviating from its core democratic principles. 

Protests broke out as the discussions turned to human rights abuse and specifically the dispersal of crowds in Moscow at peaceful demonstrations.

As Tolstoy took to the podium, the activists displayed Georgian, Ukrainian and Polish flags and demanded that the Russian delegation leave the Assembly.  

According to the protesters, Russia "is a terrorist state and the CEPA should be ashamed of letting them back into the Assembly." The protesters also demanded that the Council of Europe take responsibility for the actions of the Kremlin regime and "destruction of democracy". 

Alexandr Bashkin, a member of the Russian delegation, reported to the Russian news agency, Ria Novosti, “It is without doubt that this protest was organized by the Georgian and Ukrainian delegations in the Assembly; by those who are not interested in Russia being part of the Assembly.”

The CEPA security led the demonstrators first out of the Assembly auditorium, then out of the building entirely. The demonstrators were comprised of Georgians, Ukrainians, Polish and some of Crimean descent.

By Beka Alexishvili