Authoritarian Sovereignization: Russia’s Way out of the Council of Europe

Abstract

Abstract Russia’s war against Ukraine and departure from the Council of Europe (CoE) in 2022 raises numerous questions about the effect of norm-diffusion in wider Europe. While inclusion in the CoE has provided litigation opportunities for Russian citizens, the process of “sovereignization” pursued by the regime has brought Russia into a downward spinning spiral of authoritarian illiberalism. This study discusses expectations derived from the hybrid regime model (containment of the domestic opposition as a driver towards full-blown authoritarianism) and from spiral theories of human rights compliance; it argues that the Putin regime has sought to seal Russia off from normative pressures from international organizations in pursuit of sovereign norms and values, and construed a separate legal space aimed at maintaining authoritarian rule indefinitely.