Political scientist on WHO high-ranking official's visit to the RF: a signal that such organizations need changes and reform
Kyiv • UNN
The visit of a high-ranking WHO official to Russia is seen as the aggressor's return to the international arena. Political scientist Oleg Lisny believes that this indicates the need to reform international organizations to meet modern challenges.
The visit of a high-ranking WHO official to Russia signifies the aggressor country's return to the international arena. Such actions signal that global organizations of this scale need changes and reforms to meet current challenges. This opinion was expressed to an UNN journalist by political scientist Oleh Lisny.
Lisny commented on the visit of WHO representative Hans Kluge to Russia, where he held a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
"It wasn't this high-ranking official who started bringing Russia and Putin back to the international arena. This trend largely began with Trump, because under Biden, they didn't talk to Putin and the Russian Federation. That is, it was by default. Leaders of various international organizations, with the exception of the UN, because everything there is very 'messed up,' read into this. Therefore, the US, in the person of Trump, started bringing Putin back. Trump's statement that Russia was wrongly expelled from the G8 is telling.
The political scientist noted that leaders of international organizations see a trend that Russia will sooner or later be returned to the international arena, so they think, why not start communicating now.
Firstly, there is a financial interest everywhere. Secondly, they (leaders of international organizations – ed.) see that the trend is that Russia will be returned sooner or later, so why not communicate. This is a very negative moment. When high-ranking officials of international organizations arrive and shake hands with representatives of the Russian Federation, it is a return (to the international arena – ed.). This will appear in the news, it will appear in some internal digest. It is a signal that Russia is returning."
Lisny also explained what needs to be done for international organizations to understand that they need to distance themselves from the Russian Federation and not bring it back to the international arena.
"I think there should be démarches from our side. We also need to encourage our partners to make démarches so that this appears in the media in the necessary connotation, that this is unacceptable. Reputational aspects, unfortunately, are not the priority in such organizations. This also indicates that global organizations of this scale require certain changes and reforms to meet current challenges."
Addendum
The Head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Health, Mykhailo Radutsky, emphasized that visits of WHO representatives to the Russian Federation are unacceptable, both morally and politically. The Verkhovna Rada calls on the WHO to publicly assess the impact of Russian aggression on Ukraine's healthcare system and to stop visits to the aggressor country.
