The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution on Oct. 13 declaring Russia a dictatorship and calling on the international community to recognize Vladimir Putin's presidency as illegitimate after his current term ends in 2024.
PACE also urged its member states to cease all contact with Putin "except for humanitarian contact and in the pursuit of peace," according to the assembly's press service.
"The overwhelming power of the president resulting from the extremely long term in office combined with the lack of any checks and balances such as a strong parliament, an independent judiciary, free media, and a vibrant civil society has turned the Russian Federation into a de facto dictatorship," the parliamentarians said.
Francis Farrell
Putin has held power in Russia as president or prime minister since 2000. Amendments to the Russian Constitution made in July 2020 allowed Putin to potentially remain president until 2036.
In the resolution, PACE called Russia's war against Ukraine evidence that dictatorships "constitute a threat to the international peace and security and to the territorial integrity and political independence of their neighbors."
Anastasiia Lapatina
The assembly also reiterated its support for creating an international criminal tribunal "to hold to account the Russian leadership, including Putin," for their crimes in Ukraine.
Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba welcomed the resolution in his post on social platform X (formerly Twitter). "Over 20 years of unconstitutional one-man rule leads to crimes inside and outside the country."
On Oct. 12, PACE recognized the Holodomor of 1932-33 as a genocide of the Ukrainian people and called on all member states to follow suit.
