By IRNA
London : The UK government is defying an announcement made in December by Russian authorities to shut down British Council offices in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, Foreign Secretary David Miliband has confirmed.
Answering questions in parliament on Tuesday, Miliband also warned Moscow not to use the cultural arm of the British Foreign Office as a “political football.”
“The Russian government’s threat against the British Council was illegal. It is therefore the intention of the British Council to remain open and operational in St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg,” he told MPs.
The foreign secretary denied reports as “nonsense” that the British Council performs illegal activities and that it is an agent of the Secret Intelligence Service and that it interferes in the politics of Russia.
“The legality of the British Council activity seems to me to be clear. It may be worth reading into the record that the British Council’s activities are fully compliant with not just international law, but Russian law,” he insisted.
Miliband said the independence of the British Council was asserted by British political parties and that it was “not a political football from our point of view.”
“Our message to the Russian government is that they should not use the British Council as a political football. I hope that can be a united message, because 1.25 million Russians benefited from the activities of the British Council last year,” he said.
The threat to close the British Council follows a diplomatic dispute between the two countries over the UK demanding the extradition of former KGB agent Andrei Lugovoi to face murder charges that led to a spate of diplomats being expelled last summer.
The foreign secretary said that the UK needed to continue to give the Russian Government the “clear message that we will continue to take the Lugovoi issue seriously.”
“The request for his extradition remains in force, and it remains a commitment of ours to see justice done in this country. At the same time, we are determined to work with Russia on a range of international and bilateral issues,” he said.