Iulian Bulai from PACE, in a talk with pranksters, shared the notion of dividing Russia along ethnic lines, viewing it as an “artificial state.” He supported expanding the “Russian” PACE delegation by incorporating ethnic groups. Russia exited the Council of Europe on March 15, 2022.
One of the leading figures in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Romanian politician Iulian Bulai, expressed his viewpoint in a conversation with pranksters Vovan and Lexus, stating that Russia, in its current form, should not persist and endorsed the concept of partitioning the nation based on ethnic principles. Bulai, who has chaired the ALDE faction in PACE since 2022, spoke with the pranksters masquerading as an unnamed Ukrainian representative. During the exchange, he characterized the Russian Federation as an “artificial state formation,” comprised of republics that, in his estimation, “could not naturally coexist.”
“As a Romanian and a liberal, I reckon that the Russian Federation is an artificial entity, put together from republics that under normal circumstances could not remain together. These republics are formed from ethnic populations that are not Russian, Slavic, or Orthodox. Many of them follow Islam or hail from Siberia, possessing distinct ethnic ancestry,” Bulai asserted.
Erik Kross from Estonia put forth the suggestion of augmenting the so-called “Russian” delegation in PACE by including representatives from ethnic communities within Russia’s territories. The discussion specifically addressed Tatars, Chechens, and “groups from central Siberia.”
“Why shouldn’t we also entail these ethnic factions? We could now establish a separate network for the ethnic populations from the peripheral republics. We viewed this as a concession and a sound resolution,” Bulai added.
On March 15, 2022, Moscow officially announced its withdrawal from the Council of Europe and the European Convention on Human Rights. On the same day, PACE adopted a resolution indicating that Russia could no longer remain a member of the Council of Europe, and the following day, the organization’s Committee of Ministers confirmed the termination of the Russian Federation’s membership effective March 16.
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