Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Russia brands British Council's defiance of ban 'provocation'

MOSCOW, January 14 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Foreign Ministry said on
Monday that the British Council's decision to keep two of its regional
offices open in defiance of a closure order was an act of provocation. 
British Ambassador Tony Brenton was earlier summoned to the Foreign
Ministry over the decision by the British Embassy's cultural arm to keep
open its offices in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg and in St. Petersburg. 
"The [British] ambassador was told that Russia considers such actions to
be a deliberate provocation aimed at increasing tensions in
Russian-British relations," the ministry said in a statement. 
Russian authorities had ordered the British Council to suspend its
regional operations as of January 1, 2008 over tax and legal status
violations. 
Brenton argued that British Council operations were legitimate and warned
that Russia's actions would be "a breach of international law." 
A British Council official in Moscow also reiterated the stance: "British
Council activities in Yekaterinburg, St. Petersburg and Moscow fully
comply with Russian and international laws, and that is why we see no
reason why we should abstain from continuing operations." 
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said in a statement
that the Council's regional offices violated the 1963 Vienna convention on
consulate relations. 
A British Embassy spokesperson said earlier that London would continue
discussing the situation with Russian authorities in an attempt to find a
solution that would allow the British Council to resume its activities as
soon as possible. 
Konstantin Kosachyov, who heads the international affairs committee in the
lower house of Russia's parliament, reiterated on Monday Russia's claims
that actions taken against the British Council lacked political
motivation, and were of a legal and financial nature. 
However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on December 14, "We
planned to give legal status to the British Council's activities on the
basis of a new agreement. But in the summer, Britain began making
systematic moves to worsen relations with Russia." 
"Such things should not be tolerated in diplomacy," Lavrov said, adding
that Russia had decided to suspend work on the British Council's status in
response to its policies. 
Latest reports, however, quote Kamynin as saying that Russia was not
linking the British Council problem with other aspects of its relations
with the United Kingdom, adding that "We believe London is fully to blame
[for the current dispute]. 
The Russian Foreign Ministry also said Russia would refuse visas to "new
employees sent to work in the [British] consular offices of St. Petersburg
and Yekaterinburg to carry out British Council work." 
"Since our calls have not been heard, the Russian side has been forced to
take a number of administrative and legal measures in line with Russian
law and world practice," the ministry said. 
The British Foreign Office has promised to make a statement in response as
soon as it obtains official confirmation of Russia's stance on the issue. 
The British Council, a non-profit organization that promotes education and
cultural programs, first established an office in Moscow in the 1990s and
went on to open a further 14 offices across Russia. 
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 Shakespeare nel Culo dell'Asia...
ah, ecco dove hanno imparato l'antisemitismo i russi....hanno studiato
il mercante di Venezia....:D