YEKATERINBURG, May 31 (RIA Novosti) - An influential regional leader in Russia proposed Wednesday that a Eurasian Court be created to replace the European Court of Human Rights for Russians.
"There is no need for us to travel to Europe to resolve our problems," said Eduard Rossel, the governor of the Sverdlovsk Region in the Urals. "We have quite a different state with its own unique history."
He suggested headquartering the court in the region's capital, Yekaterinburg.
"If [St. Petersburg Governor] Valentina Matviyenko positions St. Petersburg as Europe's third capital, we could cast Yekaterinburg as the center of Eurasia," Rossel said.
Russia, which assumed the rotating presidency of the Council of Europe May 19, said last week the European Court of Human Rights needed reforms.
"We should work out a long-term strategy of reforming mechanisms for the European Court of Human Rights," Russia said in a statement comprising Moscow's priorities during the upcoming presidency.
Moscow said the court should be prevented from politicizing its activities and that it was essential to strengthen links between the court's and national practice to resolve certain issues at a national level.
