MOSCOW, May 19. /TASS/. The Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik sealed the organization's transformation into a fully EU-controlled instrument, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement on Friday.
"If we call things by their names, then in Iceland, a requiem was held for the Council of Europe as an independent pan-European multi-faceted organization. Of course, the CE still retains the outward appearance of an independent organization. Moreover, the several-thousand-strong Strasbourg bureaucracy will continue to hoodwink European governments, telling them how important it is to finance their pointless and sometimes simply harmful activities for the countries of the continent," she said. "However, in reality, the Reykjavik meeting cemented the transformation of the CE into a fully controlled instrument of the European Union, essentially, into its 'ideology department.'"
The diplomat said that "this instrument, in addition to imposing neoliberal values on European societies, is actively used by the West in the hybrid war against Russia."
"The summit documents are literally overflowing with reckless threats to 'punish' our country, to hold its leadership 'accountable,'" she went on to say. "Earlier, they spoke about the idea of creating a so-called 'Registry of Damage Caused by Russian Aggression against Ukraine.' It remains for me only to repeat: the decisions of this pseudo-legal organization will be legally null and void for us, and joining it will be considered a hostile act toward Russia."
According to Zakharova, it is clear to any sensible observer that calls from Council of Europe leaders to establish a "special tribunal" only lead to an escalation of the confrontation on the Eurasian continent, the consequences of which could be much worse than "even the strongest eruptions of Icelandic volcanoes."
Cynicism and hypocrisy
The spokeswoman stated that the Council of Europe’s cynicism and double standards were on full display. "This organization, modestly calling itself the ‘conscience of Europe,’ for many years did not notice and continues to stubbornly not notice the crimes of the Ukrainian regime, which destroys the civilian population, eradicates any dissent, glorifies Hitler's accomplices and Holocaust executioners," she added.
The diplomat said that the declaration "On the situation of children in Ukraine" approved in Reykjavik looks particularly hypocritical.
"Our country, which saves children from the zone of hostilities, from Ukrainian shelling, is accused of ‘violating their fundamental freedoms.’ At the same time, European leaders have never condemned the atrocities of Ukrainian punishers in Donbass. It would do these human rights defenders well to visit the Alley of Angels in Donetsk first and personally see the ‘effectiveness’ of the weapons supplied by their governments, which help Ukrainian Nazis to carry out reprisals against the civilian population and our children," she said.
Symbol of renewed confrontation
According to Zakharova, it is remarkable that on the eve of the summit, "these advocates of the principle of territorial integrity" without any qualms sacrificed the territorial integrity of Serbia by approving the start of the procedure for the self-proclaimed Kosovo's accession to the Council of Europe.
"These countries - the members of the Council of Europe - apparently have not heard of UN Security Council Resolution 1244 (stating that the autonomous province of Kosovo and Metohija is part of Serbia - TASS). Perhaps that’s their way of trying to ‘compensate’ for Russia's withdrawal from their organization," she said.
The diplomat noted that until recently, the capital of Iceland was best known in the history of world politics for its "attempt - albeit unsuccessful, as it later became clear - to put an end to the Cold War" and create prerequisites for the construction of a united Europe.
"From now on, Reykjavik is destined to become a symbol of renewed international confrontation and new dividing lines," the spokeswoman stated.
"To understand who we are dealing with, suffice it to recall that at the summit, the chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers - the governing body of the Council of Europe - passed to Latvia. That placed at the helm of the organization an ‘exemplary’ state according to all Strasbourg canons, where an ethnocentric repressive regime rules, the Russian population has been subjected to years of systemic discrimination, the concept of ‘non-citizens’ has been invented, and ‘Waffen SS legionaries’ have been declared ‘national heroes.’ There is no doubt in which direction the Latvian presidency will lead the Council of Europe," the diplomat said.
On October 11-12, 1986, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan held a meeting in Reykjavik, which became an important milestone in the Soviet-US talks on strategic offensive weapons.