Epress.am News from Armenia
Britain should tell Vladimir Putin that he is not welcome at the London Olympics unless Russia makes meaningful efforts to improve its human rights record, MPs will say, guardian.co.uk reports.
In a move likely to infuriate the Kremlin, Labour’s former Europe minister Denis MacShane will make a parliamentary call for the government to make it clear that Putin is not wanted at the games.
Dozens of heads of state are expected to attend the opening ceremony on Jul. 27. The Queen will preside over the ceremony, with each national team – including Russia – taking part in a parade.
Putin, currently the prime minister, is certain to win Russia’s presidential election in March despite public discontent and huge protests against election fraud last month. He will be back in the Kremlin and on the international stage from May.
Russia’s Olympic committee has already rented out the grounds of Kensington Palace from the Queen during the 2012 Games. The site will be converted into a Russian cultural festival and there will also be a separate entrance for top government officials and VIPs.
But in a Commons debate on Wednesday, MacShane will argue that the coalition needs to send a “strong signal” to Moscow over its repeated failure to enforce the rule of law.
“In 1980, Mrs Thatcher had the guts to say no to a formal British endorsement of the Moscow Olympics [following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan],” he said. “I think Mr Cameron, if he wants to emulate the Iron Lady, should say no to Mr Putin.
“Putin will use the London Olympics and the winter Olympics in two years time as self-promotion events.”
It is unclear whether Putin will attend the London games. He makes little secret of his contempt for Britain, which harbours several prominent Russian political exiles including the oligarch Boris Berezovsky. The UK’s judicial refusal to extradite Berezovsky remains a source of Anglo-Russian discord.
MacShane said his move was solely directed at Putin and not at Russia’s Olympic sportsmen and women, who would be warmly welcomed.
“There is no anti-Russian feeling in London,” he insisted. Instead, he saidm his target was Russian bureaucrats who enjoyed visiting the UK but denied Russian citizens basic rights at home.