Keeping Russia in the Council of Europe - and preserving standards

The European Exchange, DRA and Center for Liberal modernity (LibMod) strongly support the remaining of the Russian Federation in the Council of Europe and the free and comprehensive access of Russian people and civil society actors to the legal framework of the CoE – but by keeping the common CoE-standards, including those of international law on other sovereign countries. This should be reflected in an appropriate solution for the return of the Russian delegation to the PACE of CoE. This means, that the return should happen under clear conditions, in particular regarding the ongoing annexation of Crimea, and the war in Donbas – both Ukrainian territories. Furthermore, the PACE should be entitled to sanctioning the breaking of CoP-standards and international law independent from the positioning of the CoE-Committee of Ministers. 

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Highlights of the expert discussion: what do we know about the conflict in Donbas and how can the near future of the region look like?

Conflict alleviation efforts often require immediate action – assistance to the civilian population, development of dozens of new legal acts to address new realities… But in 5 years it is time to make a pause and reflect: what do we know about the conflict in and around Ukraine, what affects its development and how can  the near future of the region look like. Such reflection process was launched by the members of the CivilM+ platform, where DRA is one of the members, during the meeting of experts of the working group “Conflict Mapping” in Kyiv on May 29, 2019. During the discussion, the experts mentioned that Ukrainians formed their opinion about the conflict at the height of hostilities in 2014 and since then it has not changed: the majority of the population perceives the conflict as a war between Russia and Ukraine, only in the east of Ukraine people frame it differently. When it comes to negotiations, the population of southern Ukraine is most inclined to accept any compromises to achieve peace. Sociologists have not yet found an explanation for this trend.

At the same time, the majority of the population is not hostile to fellow citizens who have remained in non-government controlled territories. No less than half of the population is convinced that it is necessary to develop ties with people living in ORDLO, to provide benefits for admission to universities and material assistance for moving to the controlled territory.

Nevertheless, such social sentiment is not reflected in the state policy. The government is still reluctant to introduce the administrative procedure of issuing civil documents (passports, birth certificates), to improve movement across contact line and communication at the human level, or to develop programs for the reintegration of the population. This is particularly contrasted with the fact that, according to experts familiar with life in NGCA, the Russian Federation has launched many programs through which young people living in ORDLO can participate in various all-Russian competitions for talented children and athletes.

People living in NGCA see a lot of uncertainty and risks in the context of relations with the rest of Ukraine. First of all, they do not understand how the cooperation/ collaboration with de facto authorities will be defined legally and which groups of people will  be prosecuted criminally or administratively.  For example, whether a person who worked in the pension fund of the so-called DNR will be considered a criminal.

People engaged in small and medium business are very interested in the resolution of the conflict and reunification with Ukraine, but they also have considerable fears. For example, it is not clear to business whether entrepreneurs will be accused of financing terrorism if they have been conducting economic activities in non-controlled areas. Clarifying such issues, i.e. defining the main parameters of the transitional justice system, will open up opportunities for dialogue with NGCA residents.

Experts from Russia noted that the topic of the conflict in Donbas practically disappeared from the information space and appeared again only in connection with the decree on the simplified granting of Russian citizenship to the Ukrainians living on the territory of ORDLO. It was also noted that over the last past 5 years, popular support for the war in eastern Ukraine has halved.

Participants discussed social life in ORDLO. It was noted that among the religious organizations only the Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate actively works in ORDLO. It openly declares that it provides humanitarian aid and its activities are not hindered by the de facto authorities. It was noted that civil society in ORDLO exists, moreover, there are signals that the de facto authorities may be more open to cooperation with international organizations. Currently active local civil society organisations are mainly concerned with humanitarian issues. The position of Russian civil society in the ORDLO territories is not unambiguous. Those Russian civil society organisations that are in opposition to the authorities have little or no access to the ORDLO territories. The activity of Russian public organizations loyal to the authorities (such as, for example, the New Scythians movement Dugin) is not systematic. They come to ORDLO, hold some events, but are not permanently located on the territory.

As a result of the experts’ work, a publication will be prepared that will analyze various aspects of the conflict and the main actors involved in it.

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Participants of the field mission to eastern Ukraine researched peculiarities of life of civilians near the frontline, operations of military-civillian administration and problems of illegal coal mining

On May 18-20 DRA in the partnership with VOSTOK SOS organised another field mission to eastern Ukraine. The experts from Germany, Poland, France and Ukraine took part in the mission. The participants travelled 700 km along the contact line to asses the conditions of the daily llife of civillians in the proximity to the military positions, relations between civil military administartions and civilian population and illegal businesses such as coal mining. Particular attention was paid to the hot points where the shellings are the most frequent – Avdiivka, Mariinka and Zolote. One of the mission participants, Yuliya Shukan mentioned: "The most interesting I think was to explore relationship between local populations (their fragile living conditions, expectations towards authorities), civil society activists and military-civil administrations (MCA). We saw that MCAs lack money for everything, except when there is a big factory in a city, like the coke plant in Avdiivka, that may replace the state in some instances and finance reconstruction. We noted that there is still no legal mechanism for compensating damages caused to the private housing (beyond the question of relevance of reconstruction in areas under the constant shelling). Finally, the institution of MCA is very controversial as it is a non-collegial one and decisions depend in last resort on a single person. We met two heads of MCAs (one with background in military and another from state security service) and two deputies (people from the former Party of Regions (party of the former president Yanukovych), that are still in charge and continue to run current affairs). So from the point of view of sociology of local authorities and MCAs, it was also very interesting to observe different profiles and ways of doing things. Finally, the tense relationship between MCA and some local activists who try to monitor public procurement at the local level are also very instructive"

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Training-course “Working with historical memory in non-formal citizenship education”

The DRA invites youth workers and youth leaders from Germany, Russia, Estonia and Poland (18-30 years old) to take part in the Training-course “Working with historical memory in non-formal citizenship education” in Berlin on May, 31 – June, 6/7/8.

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Call for applications: International volunteer camp in Sloviansk, Ukraine

We will study, make friends and work together! The international volunteer camp gives plenty of opportunities. The participants from different countries will learn about each other's lives, about the history and development of Ukraine and the Donbas region, will be able to discuss ideas for new joint projects, listen to and tell stories about their achievements and experiences of overcoming conflict.

Read more … Call for applications: International volunteer camp in Sloviansk, Ukraine