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PACE resolution provides no guarantees for Russian delegation — senior lawmaker

Another Russian lawmaker, Leonid Slutsky, believes that the resolution "opens a new window of opportunity" for overcoming the current crisis in relations between Russia and PACE

MOSCOW, April 11. /TASS/. Wednesday’s resolution calling upon Russia to send its delegates to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) provides no guarantees that the Russian delegation's rights will be respected in Strasbourg, a senior Russian lawmaker said,

"The resolution, adopted by PACE today, calls upon the Russian delegation to return to Strasbourg. However, the document provides no guarantees that having returned to PACE, Russia will get back its legitimate rights, including the right to vote," said Pyotr Tolstoy, the deputy speaker of the Russian parliament’s lower chamber who is in charge of international issues.

He added that Russia needs to make sure that the powers of its delegation "will not be put into question again by the hysterical minority led by Ukraine and the United Kingdom."

The lawmaker thanked all PACE members "who today rejected their [Ukraine and UK] absurd amendments to the document."

"But there is one catch," he continued. "By adopting this resolution, our European colleagues have de facto put forward an ultimatum: ‘come back, bring your money or we will exclude you.’ Amazingly, but after such a long period of time, PACE still failed to understand one simple idea: you cannot talk to Russia using the language of ultimatums."

However, he noted the organization’s "readiness for dialogue with Russia to search solutions to the current crisis."

"We are patiently waiting for the organization to eventually be ready to change its discriminatory rules of procedure, which contradict the Council of Europe’s Statute."

"We, on our part, are always open for dialogue, which is confirmed by our regular meetings with the leadership of the assembly," he said.

Window of opportunity

Meanwhile, the chairman of the State Duma’s foreign affairs committee, Leonid Slutsky, believes that the resolution "opens a new window of opportunity" for overcoming the current crisis in relations between Russia and PACE, but the return of the Russian delegation will be impossible without amending the rules of procedure.

He said the resolution "may become the assembly’s positive step towards Russia, but its adoption does not mean that we are returning to PACE tomorrow."

"I would say that it just opens a new window of opportunity to overcome the crisis," Slutsky told reporters.

The Russian lawmaker went on to say that the resolution also contains a provision about setting up a special body between the Parliamentary Assembly and the Council of Ministers to overcome possible deadlocks.

According to Slutsky, this may pave the way for "excluding from the rules of procedure a discriminatory practice of stripping national delegations of their powers, completely or in part."

"Only in this case - and under no other circumstances - our return to Strasbourg will be possible," he said. "If PACE is ready for this scenario, then it will be possible to discuss forming a delegation and resuming financial contributions."

"Our conditions remain in place. The delegation will return to PACE only when the sanctions-related provisions are cancelled," Slutsky added.

PACE resolution

On Wednesday, Members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted a resolution stressing the need to preserve Russia’s membership in the organization and urging Moscow to appoint its delegation and pay membership fees. During the session of the Council of Europe’s parliamentary arm, broadcast live on the PACE website, a total of 105 lawmakers voted in favor of the resolution, 30 voted against and 16 abstained.

The resolution, headlined "Role and mission of the Parliamentary Assembly: main challenges for the future," says that PACE sanctions on the Russian delegation for the country’s reunification with Crimea in 2014 and Russia’s subsequent decision to stop participating in the activities of the Assembly, have "led to a rift within the Organisation."

Russia and PACE

In April 2014, Russia’s delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) was stripped of its key rights, including the right to vote, over the situation in Ukraine and Crimea’s reunification with Russia. The issue of restoring the rights of the Russian delegation was raised at PACE twice throughout 2015 but sanctions remained in place. In response, Russia suspended its participation in PACE’s activities. The country did not apply for confirmation of its rights in 2016-2018.

Moscow suggested PACE’s regulations be amended to ensure that no one could strip lawmakers of their rights except their voters.

Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland said on October 10, 2018, that Russia’s membership in the organization’s Committee of Ministers and the Parliamentary Assembly might be suspended starting from June 2019 due to non-payment of monetary contributions. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in response that Moscow would quit the Council of Europe if opposing member states called for expelling Russia.

On December 10, the PACE Committee on Rules of Procedure spoke out against depriving national delegations of their right to take part in electing the organization’s secretary general and judges of the European Court of Human Rights. However, Russian Permanent Representative to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov said that Moscow would not be satisfied with a partial restoration of the Russian delegation’s rights, as it expected the rights to be restored in full. Chizhov added Russia also called for developing rules that would exclude the possibility of such actions in the future.

In January 2019, the two houses of the Russian parliament - the Federation Council and the State Duma - issued statements, pointing out there were no reasons for Russia to return to PACE in 2019. In addition, the State Duma upheld the move to suspend the payment of the country’s contribution.