RUSSIANS PETITION PUTIN TO RE-OPEN BRITISH COUNCIL

UNCLAS MOSCOW 000315 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV KDEM PHUM PREL SOCI RS SUBJECT: RUSSIANS PETITION PUTIN TO RE-OPEN BRITISH COUNCIL OFFICES REF: A. MOSCOW 270 ¶B. MOSCOW 103 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: On January 24, a group of Russian graduates of British universities sent a letter to Putin asking that he allow the British Council offices to reopen. The letter asked that cultural and exchange programs not be held hostage to the current chilly relations between Russia and Britain. The GOR has not responded to the request and, in the meantime, the St. Petersburg British Council office officially ceased operations. Only the Moscow office continues to operate unimpeded. End summary. A Plea from Russian Citizens -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Following rare public criticism of Putin's foreign policy (ref A) by senior GOR officials, more than 150 Russian citizens on January 24 signed a letter to Putin asking him to allow the British Council to re-open its regional offices. All of the signatories had graduated from a British institute of higher education, which they attended with assistance from the British Council. The letter noted the damage caused to Russia's international reputation and enumerated the benefits Russia received through cultural cooperation with Britain via the Council. In particular, the letter stated that the Council filled a niche "for which Russia had neither the resources nor the knowledge." Although the coordinators of the petition informed the British Embassy of the letter in advance, no one at the Embassy initiated or assisted the effort. ¶3. (SBU) The request followed the shuttering of the British Council offices in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg in January due to GOR pressure on the local staff (ref B) in the wake of continued Russian unhappiness with HMG's efforts to extradite Litvinenko. The St. Petersburg office released its staff and moved all materials to its Moscow office, which operates unimpeded. On February 6, we received word that the British Council had canceled its lease on the office space it had been using in St. Petersburg, and its UK staff have departed the country. ¶4. (SBU) A British Embassy colleague told us February 6 the UK was pleased by the petition. However, he saw no sign that tensions with the GOR were abating. With the British Council unwilling to subject its Russian employees to harassment from the Federal Security Service, he expected no change in the status quo. ¶5. (SBU) Comment: This rare public protest is a tribute to the value and effectiveness of international exchanges, as well as evidence of the disconnect between the freeze in GOR-UK relations and London's status as a home away from home for an increasing slice of Russian elite. BURNS