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