The UN agency is losing its neutral role due to external pressure and is being used to benefit a small group of beneficiaries, affecting fair treatment of all member states, Russia said in a submission to the International Maritime Organization published this week.
The International Maritime Organization, headquartered in London, is responsible for regulating the safety and security of international shipping and preventing pollution, and includes 175 countries.
In December, the IMO General Assembly, the agency’s highest governing body that meets every two years, will elect 40 countries by secret ballot to the organization’s Executive Council, which oversees its work.
Ukraine is seeking to expel Russia from the organization’s council due to Moscow’s invasion of it last year.
Russia, which has been a member of the organization since 1958 and is constantly re-elected to the organization’s Council, said that it is seeking re-election this year, according to a nomination application submitted to the organization on September 21 and published last Monday.
The Russian mission to the organization said that it is clear that due to external pressures, the International Maritime Organization has begun to move away from neutrality and standing at arm’s length in international affairs, to devote a greater amount of its valuable time to political issues that often fall outside the scope of its narrowly defined mandate.
She added that it is clear that the IMO is being used to benefit a small group of beneficiaries at the expense of the majority of countries.
Russia did not provide details about how the organization’s role would change, nor did it mention who it claimed was exerting external pressure on it.
Russia said that it seeks to contribute in these difficult times to the organization’s efforts.
She added that the balance within the organization was imbalanced, including with regard to the fair treatment of the interests of all member states.
A spokesman for the International Maritime Organization said that the organization’s secretariat does not comment on requests or memorandums submitted by member states.
The Ukrainian delegation to the organization told Reuters that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine led to serious violations of the principles of international law, including the blockade imposed on the international shipping sector and deliberate attacks against commercial ships, ports, navigational facilities, maritime training institutions and the marine environment in Ukraine, as well as harm to sailors.
The Ukrainian delegation continued, Russia cannot be considered a responsible member of the International Maritime Community, and must be expelled from the IMO Council.
Moscow was unable to win enough votes to be re-elected to the UN Aviation Council in October last year, due to aviation-related measures taken by Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine.