London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Europe pushes World Health Organization to consider relocating Moscow office out of Russia

Europe pushes World Health Organization to consider relocating Moscow office out of Russia

The resolution would push the WHO to take a more political stance on the war in Ukraine.
Europe is seeking to further isolate Russia by pushing the World Health Organization’s European director to consider relocating a key office outside of Moscow.

The 53-country WHO European region, which includes Ukraine, Russia and the entirety of the EU, meets Tuesday and Wednesday to consider a resolution that condemns Russia’s attacks on health facilities in Ukraine and could set in motion an exodus of WHO experts from Moscow.

If agreed, the resolution would force the WHO's hand on taking a more political stance on the war. The health organization has in the past been criticized for taking overtly apolitical positions, including for its caution at publicly calling out China in the early days of the pandemic.

It comes in the wake of senior leadership, including WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, visiting Ukraine over the weekend. During the visit, the head of the WHO’s emergency program Mike Ryan said the WHO was continuing to document attacks on health care facilities.

"Intentional attacks on health care facilities are a breach of international humanitarian law and as such, based on investigation and attribution of the attack, represent war crimes in any situation," he claimed. Ryan added that while the WHO documented and verified the attacks, it was the job of bodies such as the International Criminal Court to investigate the criminal aspect of the attacks.

The meeting of WHO members, which was requested on April 28 by 43 countries, including all 27 EU countries, will see a sharply worded resolution up for discussion. The draft resolution demands that the Russian Federation, “ensure respect for international humanitarian law, including protection of all medical personnel and humanitarian personnel exclusively engaged in medical duties, their means of transport and equipment, as well as hospitals and other medical facilities.”

It also asks the WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Kluge to explore options “to safeguard the technical cooperation and assistance provided by the WHO European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases, including the possible relocation of the aforementioned office to an area outside of the Russian Federation.”

Going further, the resolution calls on Kluge to “consider temporarily suspending all regional meetings in the Russian Federation.” The suspension of meetings in the region would be in place until there is a peaceful resolution of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

Ukraine has been less ambiguous about the relocation of the WHO’s office for noncommunicable diseases, tweeting Sunday that it “insists on the closure” of the office.

Decisions at the WHO are usually taken by consensus and a note circulated by the WHO prior to the meeting indicates that “as far as possible” this should be the case. However, if consensus can’t be reached, voting is allowed.

With over 200 verified attacks on health care facilities and around 5.9 million refugees fleeing Ukraine, the humanitarian and health crises have reached “proportions unseen in Europe since the Second World War,” said the European Public Health Alliance in comments to POLITICO. This is having knock-on effects in the region, including in Russia, the alliance said. As such, EPHA is calling for an “immediate cessation of all military aggression and for a transition to peaceful negotiations.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×