Putin signed a law denouncing the Convention for the Protection of National Minorities

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law denouncing the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. Such a document published on the legal information portal.

“To denounce the Framework Convention of the Council of Europe for the Protection of National Minorities, signed on behalf of the Russian Federation in the city of Strasbourg on February 28, 1996,” the law says.

The President introduced a bill denouncing the convention at the end of September. The explanatory note said that the resolution of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, adopted on September 27, 2022, “substantially limited the powers of the Russian expert in the advisory committee” that was created to monitor compliance with the convention. Russia has also lost the opportunity to influence decisions on “issues of interest” and monitor cases of violation of the rights of national minorities in the world, including the Russian-speaking population abroad.

The Framework Convention was signed by Russia in Strasbourg on February 28, 1996 and ratified on June 18, 1998. Vedomosti wrote that the denunciation of the convention will not lead to a reduction in the constitutional guarantees of the rights of national minorities: Russian legislation has norms that enshrine their rights, including indigenous minorities peoples, as well as programs to support them.