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Moscow Culture Club
The repressive government of Vladimir Putin has ordered the British Council to close its offices in St Petersburg and Ekaterinburg. The deadline is: before Christmas. The office in the capital, Moscow, will be allowed to remain open for the moment.
The British Council acts as the UK's cultural and educational representative abroad. It is best known for its libraries, language tuition and for staging Shakespeare.
The first British Council operation was set up in Cairo in 1938. The organisation is active in 110 countries. Its budget for 2007-2008 is £193 million. Its current turnover is just under £500 million.
For most host countries it is consisered a benign friend.
But not in Russia.
During this past summer Russian state-controlled television broadcast a documentary alleging that the British Council was a front for London espionage.
The Britsh embassy in Moscow has released a statement (or threat) ordained by Downing Street: "Any action against the British Council would consitute a serious breach of international law and would deprive Russians of cultural and educational resources".
