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Russian delegation to PACE ready to counter attempts to dispute its mandate, says MP

Earlier, the head of Ukraine’s delegation to PACE informed about the creation of a permanent group named Baltic Plus, comprising also Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Georgia, tasked with "carrying on the policy that does not recognize the annexation of Crimea and condemns Russian occupation of Crimea, parts of eastern Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova"

MOSCOW, January 23. /TASS/. The Russian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is ready to counter attempts to dispute its mandate during the assembly’s winter session, Chairman of the Russian State Duma’s (lower house of parliament) Committee for Foreign Affairs Leonid Slutsky stated during a briefing on Thursday.

"We expect our colleagues from the so-called Baltic Plus group (it essentially was established to counter us and to be our constant opponents) to try to dispute the Russian delegation’s mandate," the MP said. "I am not exaggerating when I say that we will counter such attempts successfully and by a great margin, due to the current alignment of forces at PACE and our outlook on all political groups," he added.

Earlier, the head of Ukraine’s delegation to PACE, Elizaveta Yasko, informed about the creation of a permanent group within PACE named Baltic Plus, comprising also Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Georgia. According to Yasko, the group is tasked with "carrying on the policy that does not recognize the annexation of Crimea and condemns Russian occupation of Crimea, parts of eastern Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova.".

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