Russian Duma chairman says PACE monitoring imposed on Russia is "discriminatory"

Russian Politics & Diplomacy July 09, 2019, 4:28

Russian State Duma chairman Vyacheslav Volodin said that "PACE's politicized approach has not been overcome"

MOSCOW, July 9. /TASS/. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) monitoring of fulfillment of Russia's commitments is discriminatory, Russian State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin wrote in an article for the Rossiyskaya Gazeta daily on Tuesday.

Volodin reminded that "common sense recently prevailed" in PACE, and the organization adopted a resolution on guaranteeing the rights of national delegations to vote, make speeches and participate in PACE's work.

"However, even though we welcome this decision, we understand nevertheless that PACE's politicized approach has not been overcome," he noted. "The so-called monitoring that PACE is imposing on Russia, is in fact discriminatory. They are trying to present it as another reservation, to create an illusion that the rights of the Russian delegation were not reinstaded in full," he added.

"Such small tricks do not help to paint a good image of those who initiated them. They also do not help PACE as a European institution to overcome its own deep crisis," he concluded.

On Jun 26, PACE adopted a resolution that reinstates the rights of the Russian delegation in full measure. The move was opposed by the delegations of Ukraine, Baltic States and Georgia.

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