Disinfo: The Council of Europe is a completely meaningless and absolutely anti-Russian organisation

Summary

As soon as the Russian delegation was re-admitted to PACE, anti-Russian resolutions went one after another. Then, all these ECHR decisions against Russia! And Russia has to pay many thousands of Euros to the victims. The Council of Europe is completely meaningless and absolutely an anti-Russian organisation. Participation in PACE is not effective.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the Council of Europe, undermining role of this institution. The Council of Europe is an international organisation whose stated aim is to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. The Council of Europe is not "anti" any country. PACE resolutions aim at resolving existing problems and cannot be considered as steps against the country concerned. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is one of the Council of Europe’s institutions which safeguards human rights in Europe. Russia has the biggest number of cases pending in the Court. If Russia was to leave the organisation, Russian citizens would be deprived of the chance to defend their rights at the ECHR.

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  • Reported in: Issue 157
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 04/07/2019
  • Outlet language(s) Russian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Russia
  • Keywords: ECHR, Council of Europe
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Jul 03, 2019
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation about Ukraine and its cooperation with NATO. Ukraine is a strategic partner for NATO in many areas. Since the 1990s, relations between NATO and Ukraine have developed into one of NATO’s most influential partnerships. Relations were strengthened with the signing of the 1997 Charter on a Distinctive Partnership, which established the NATO-Ukraine Commission (NUC). The Declaration of 2009 to Complement the NATO-Ukraine Charter mandated the NUC, through Ukraine’s Annual National Programme, to underpin Ukraine’s efforts to take forward reforms aimed at implementing Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations. NATO's door remains open to any European country in a position to undertake the commitments and obligations of membership and contribute to security in the Euro-Atlantic area. Currently, four partner countries have declared their aspirations to NATO membership: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, North Macedonia and Ukraine, according to NATO’s statement. In February 2019, the Parliament of Ukraine amended the Constitution and cemented Ukraine's course to the EU and NATO.

Disinfo: In Ukraine, the nationalists continue to violate the rights of the Russian-speaking population

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Jul 03, 2019
Disproof

This is another example of Russian disinformation about the law on the state language in Ukraine. Russia insists that the so-called "language law" violates the country's constitution and the rights of the Russian-speaking population. This is a constant narrative of Russian propaganda that the rights of Russians are violated in Ukraine, and the country's leadership is radically nationalist.

Disinfo: The US didn’t provide any proof that Russia violated the INF treaty

In October 2018, US President Donald Trump stated that the US would withdraw from the INF treaty due to Moscow’s violations of its commitments. However, the US didn’t provide any proof to support this claim.

Jul 03, 2019
Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative that the US is entirely responsible for the demise of the INF Treaty, and that Russia was fully compliant with it. In July 2014, President Obama officially accused Russia of testing an intermediate-range land-launched missile in violation of the INF. Russia’s violations were also acknowledged by NATO Foreign Ministers in a meeting in Brussels on 4 December 2018. NATO allies share the US government’s assessment that Russia has developed and fielded a missile system, the 9M729, which violates the INF Treaty and poses significant risks to Euro-Atlantic security. The US gathered detailed information on Russia’s flight-testing of the 9M792 missile to distances well over 500 kilometers, in violation of the INF, and provided Moscow with evidence about the 9M729’s violations, including geographic coordinates and dates for the tests. Russia has continually denied any wrongdoing. In a statement released on 1 February 2019, the North Atlantic Council noted that Russia had “taken no demonstrable steps toward returning to full and verifiable compliance” and that “Russia will bear sole responsibility for the end of the Treaty.” In February 2019, the US suspended its participation in the INF Treaty, stressing that nearly 6 years of diplomacy and more than 30 meetings have failed to convince Russia to return to compliance with the INF Treaty. On 3 July 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a federal law on the suspension of the INF Treaty. On 5 July 2019, the Russia-NATO Council was held, following which Secretary-General of the Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, said that NATO and the Kremlin have fundamental differences in this matter. More disinformation cases on the INF treaty can be found here.