Russia withdraws from UN World Tourism Organization amid Ukraine war

The UN World Tourism Organization on Wednesday announced that Russia has decided to withdraw from the United Nations Tourism body. UN World Tourism Organization Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili took to his official Twitter handle to announce Russia's decision. According to the UN World Tourism Organization, Russia has announced its intention to withdraw from the body ahead of a vote to suspend Moscow for its military offensive in Ukraine. The development comes amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine which continues for day 63. 

Moscow announced its intention on the first day of an extraordinary General Assembly of the tourism agency to address the suspension of Russia's membership. UN World Tourism Organization Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili tweeted, "UNWTO was the first UN agency to address the membership of Russia. Today, Russia announced their intention to withdraw from UNWTO. Our statues are clear: promotion of tourism for peace & universal respect for human rights. Only Members that abide by this can be part of UNWTO." In the now-deleted tweet, the United Nations World Tourism Organization stated that Russia needs to follow due process and it will take one year to complete "upon receipt of the official communication through appropriate channels," RFE/RL reported. The United Nations World Trade Organization called Russian aggression against Ukraine "inconsistent with the United Nations Charter" and is against the fundamental aim of the UNWTO, as per the news report. 

Several member states 'monopolize' UNWTO: Yuri Korchagin

Meanwhile, Yuri Korchagin, Russian Ambassador to Madrid, speaking at an extraordinary General Assembly (GA) of the organization, said that they have decided to withdraw from the UNWTO as they do not consider it "expedient" to work in the organization whose leadership and some member states "condone the politicization of its activities" and accused them of discriminating against Russia. According to Korchagin, UNWTO is "monopolized" by several member states that use it for their interests, TASS reported citing a speech published on the embassy’s Telegram channel.

Notably, the UN World Tourism Organization which includes 160 members has been established in 1946 and encourages "responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism." Earlier on April 7,  the UN General Assembly voted to suspend Russia from the UN Human Rights Council. A total of 93 countries had voted in favour and 24 have voted against the resolution while 58 nations had abstained from voting. Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres met Russian President Vladimir Putin & Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.