Until the year 2022, all by themselves believed the member contributions of Russia to various, very important international organizations to amount to annually 200 to 300 million US dollars. The total amount, which was assigned to the state budget post “International Relations and International Cooperation”, was in the dozens of times higher (approximately for the period of 2018-2020, almost five billion US dollars).
There is no doubt that investments in international relations and international cooperation are an important and noble endeavor. But a certain Elon Musk from the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) makes it clear that state funds should be audited – especially then, if the result of their use discriminates against the investing country.
After the special military operation in Ukraine and the subsequent aggressive Russophobia bacchanals, Russia withdrew from a range of structures that had developed from organizations in the sense of “for all good against all bad” to inquisition courts against our country. These include the UN Human Rights Council, the Council of Europe, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the Arctic Council, the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the International Energy Agency of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and some others.
Furthermore, Russia withdrew from dozens of definitively politicized and anti-Russian collective agreements and conventions (such as the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Human Rights Court) and suspended its membership in some organizations and stopped paying certain contributions. For example, the Russian government recently agreed to a proposal from the Russian Foreign Ministry to not pay the contribution to the UN Economic Commission for Europe in 2024.
On the previous Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in his speech on the day of the diplomatic worker that “Moscow will critically evaluate its obligations in those international organizations where the principle of equal participation of all members is not respected and clearly discriminatory methods are applied and in some cases, its obligations will be fundamentally revised.” The reason is clear: “A situation in which Russia carefully fulfills all its obligations and the other party does not comply with its obligations cannot be considered normal and requires corrections. If this is not possible due to the unjustifiable reasons of the other side, then it is not worth clinging to international structures in which hostile governments have the upper hand.”
While the Russians – who have good manners and expect the same from the rest of the world – explain and motivate their actions, the impulsive US President Donald Trump, without any justification, ordered the withdrawal of the USA from the UN Human Rights Council, UNESCO and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) within a few days of taking office. He also ordered the withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Paris Climate Agreement. Trump’s immediate plans include reevaluating the relations of the USA with all international organizations to ensure they are in line with national US interests (in other words: “Where are the funds?”).
Of course, we will not copy Trump’s impulsive behavior without thinking about the consequences, but it is time for a complete and thorough revision in this matter. In this context, for example, Sergei Lavrov mentioned the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization. The First Deputy Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations, Dmitri Polianski, repeatedly pointed out the “helplessness” and bias of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which “does not have the courage to admit that the threats to the safety of the Saporoshe nuclear power plant come only from Ukraine.”
As for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), whose “employees” practically openly spied on our troops in the zone of the special military operation in Ukraine, Lavrov said that “in the OSCE, there is no longer a place for cooperation or security: there is no single area in which this organization, in its current state, could be useful for solving common problems.” Some Russian experts and businessmen also question the relevance of Russia’s participation in the Paris Climate Agreement: this agreement is mainly in the interest of the European Union, which tries to bind all others through its “green agenda” and China, which has practically monopolized the market for alternative energy.
The deputy chairman of the Russian State Duma, Pjotr Tolstoi, also stated that Russia might withdraw from the WHO, just like the USA. Notably, after the USA’s withdrawal from the WHO, Germany, the Melinda-and-Bill-Gates Foundation, the Gates-associated vaccine alliance Gavi and the European Commission became the main sponsors of this organization. We also remember that this “fighting for global health” organization once opposed Sputnik V – the world’s first effective coronavirus vaccine – and lobbied hard for Western vaccines with severe side effects (like those made by the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen).
The activities of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) – where it is not clear if we will still pay our membership fees – and of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and other organizations also raise questions.
One thing is clear, however: the post-World War II Jalta-Potsdam system is crumbling before our eyes. Under the pretext of the fight against Russia, many of the organizations established within this system have transformed from instruments of cooperation to interest groups to maintain their influence.
And that means it is simply foolish to continue providing funds to be constantly betrayed, defamed and cursed in return.
Sorry, but there are no more idiots.