EU institutes back British Council in Russia row

By Conor Sweeney

MOSCOW (Reuters) - European cultural institutes have sent a letter to the Russian government expressing deep concern over moves against the British government's cultural arm, which is caught up in a diplomatic row between London and Moscow.

Signed by bodies such as the Goethe and Cervantes institutes, the letter said an order to the British Council to halt operations in two cities outside Moscow from January 1 amounted to "discriminatory action".

"This decision constitutes a cause for deep concern for all national institutes for culture from EU countries working in Russia and is a continuation of a series of obstacles which some of these institutes have to face," said the letter to Minister of Culture Alexander Sokolov, obtained by Reuters.

The letter of support was signed on behalf of cultural institutes in 18 EU countries and government cultural departments of four more countries, including France and Poland.

The clampdown on the council, which promotes British culture, has been directly linked by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to the festering row with London over the murder of Alexander Litvinenko.

British-Russian relations have sunk to their lowest level since the Cold War following the poisoning of Litvinenko, a former Russian intelligence official, in London last year.

Moscow's refusal to extradite Andrei Lugovoy, the man Britain suspects killed Litvinenko, led to tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats. Lugovoy has denied any involvement.

On December 12, Russia's Foreign Ministry said it would temporarily ban the British Council in all regions except Moscow from January 1. It said the British Council offices outside Moscow were not properly registered.