“We all know
that human rights are universal; they should not be distorted and double
standards should not be used in that case. But there are facts of human rights
violations when the Commissioner reacts very quickly; but in some cases the Commissioner prefers either not to notice at all, or to react very late. I mean
the case of the systematic persecution of the Russians and Russian-speaking
population in the Baltic states and Ukraine. The right to communication and education in their mother tongue is being violated for 20 million citizens of Ukraine. This is a real problem for the Russians, but for modern Europe it is a disgrace,” Petr Tolstoy
Petr Olegovich
told reporters following an enlarged meeting of the PACE Standing Committee.
He also added that he did not receive answers from Dunja Mijatović to his questions at the meeting of the Standing Committee, and so the Commissioner “had proved her own omission”.
“The Council of Europe cannot turn a blind eye to that issue. However, the situation continue to worsen after the coup d’état in 2014 with the connivance of enlightened Europe. Despite our repeated appeals to the Commissioner on the discriminatory language policy of the Kiev’s authorities and the so-called ”Ukrainization“ of all spheres of society, there is still no adequate reaction,” the parliamentarian concluded.
