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Russia to pay remaining Council of Europe fees in near future — foreign ministry

Maria Zakharova added that Moscow expects the reform of the Council of Europe to continue successfully

© Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS

MOSCOW, August 28. /TASS/. Russia will pay the remaining Council of Europe membership dues for the years 2017 and 2018 in the near future, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters in a statement published by the ministry on Wednesday.

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"As we know, after the full restoration of the mandate of the delegation of the Russian Federal Council to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, in late June of this year, the Russian Federation paid its dues to the organization’s budget for the year 2019. The Russian Federation is also fulfilling its obligations for the previous two years. On August 27, 2019, the Russian government issued a directive, according to which Strasbourg will receive the remaining Russia’s fees for the years 2017 and 2018 very soon," the diplomat said.

Zakharova added that Moscow expects that the reformation of the Council of Europe will continue successfully "in the interest of ensuring equal rights and obligations for all its member states and strengthening the role of the organization as a leading instrument of ensuring the unity of European nations."

The Russian delegation to PACE was stripped of the rights to vote, take part in monitoring missions and be elected to PACE steering bodies in April 2014 following the developments in Ukraine and Crimea’s reunification with Russia. PACE considered Russia’s reinstatement twice throughout 2015 but sanctions were only toughened. In response, the Russian delegation refused to take part in the assembly’s work. It did not apply for confirmation of its mandate in 2016-2018 and froze the payment of contributions to the Council of Europe in 2017.

On June 26, 2019, the PACE session passed a resolution fully reinstating the Russian delegation and confirming its rights. On July 2, Moscow reportedly paid its dues to the Council of Europe’s budget for 2019.

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