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Russia ready for dialogue with new PACE president — Federation Council speaker

Spanish politician Pedro Agramunt was elected new PACE president on January 25

MOSCOW, January 27. /TASS/. Moscow will continue the dialogue with new-elected President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Pedro Agramunt, speaker of the Russian Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko said on Wednesday.

According to Matviyenko, Agramunt is not burdened with "unintelligent, dead-locked decision" made by PACE under former president Anne Brasseur who had headed PACE for the past two years.

In 2014 the parliamentary arm of the 47-nation Council of Europe, promoting democracy and human rights across the continent, stripped Russia of voting rights following events in Ukraine. It suspended both Russia's right to sit on its governing bodies and Russian participation in election observer missions.

"As the new president does not depend on such decisions, he has constructive attitude, so we will continue the dialogue," she said.

Brasseur’s presidency "will not go down in PACE history as one of its bright pages," Matviyenko added.

Spanish politician Pedro Agramunt was elected new PACE president on January 25.

The PACE president is elected for one year with the right to be re-elected for another 12-month term.