15/09/2025 Political Affairs and Democracy
PACE’s Political Affairs Committee has proposed the creation of a Platform for Dialogue between the Assembly and Russian democratic forces in exile.
Participants in the platform – whose composition would be approved each year based on a set of criteria – would be able to hold a two-way exchange with the Assembly on issues of common concern. They would also be able to attend meetings of the Assembly’s committees, sub-committees and networks during part-sessions.
Approving a report by Eerik-Niiles Kross (Estonia, ALDE), the committee said participants in the platform will be exiled Russian democratic forces, drawn from among Russian political leaders, civil society representatives, human rights defenders, independent journalists, scholars and other members of the Russian resistance to Vladimir Putin’s regime. They must all be persons of high moral standing who share Council of Europe values, support Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s aggression, and recognise Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
The committee said the new platform – among other things – would help to strengthen the capacity of Russian democratic forces to “bring about sustainable democratic change in Russia and help achieve a lasting and just peace in Ukraine”.
The committee said it honoured the commitment of “those Russian human rights defenders, democratic forces, free media, and independent civil society who oppose the Russian regime and support Ukraine, like the Anti-War Committee and the Free Russia Foundation, sometimes at the cost of their lives and freedom”.
However, unlike Belarusian democratic forces, “Russian democratic forces do not have a single, unified political structure”, the committee pointed out. It encouraged Russian groups and initiatives in exile to join forces to advocate for democratic change in Russia, expose the crimes of the Russian regime and support Ukrainians.
The proposal is due to be debated by the plenary Assembly during its forthcoming autumn session in Strasbourg.