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Slovakia not questioning PACE's decision to restore Russian delegation's rights

Slovakia's parliament speaker Andrej Danko and the head of the permanent delegation of Slovakia's National Council to PACE said in a joint statement that Slovakia "supported the Russian delegation"

Slovakia's Parliament Speaker Andrej Danko EPA-EFE/ZSOLT SZIGETVARY

Slovakia's Parliament Speaker Andrej Danko

© EPA-EFE/ZSOLT SZIGETVARY

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PRAGUE, June 27. /TASS/. The leadership of Slovakia's National Council (parliament) does not question the decision of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) to restore the rights of the Russian delegation in full, parliament speaker Andrej Danko and the head of the permanent delegation of Slovakia's National Council to PACE said in a joint statement obtained by TASS.

"Slovakia is not withdrawing from PACE and in now way questions PACE's decision to restore the rights of the Russian delegation," the statement said. "On the contrary, we supported the Russian delegation and welcomed PACE's decision," the statement added.

Three out of four Slovak representatives in PACE voted for restoring the rights of the Russian delegation. Only Martin Poliacik voted against it, thus opposing Slovakia's official position.

The statement said that Poliacik "abused his powers and signed a joint statement by the delegations of Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine" that criticized Russia's return to PACE.

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