'They betrayed the principles for the sake of money': Russia was resumed in PACE, Ukraine is leaving in protest - ForumDaily
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“They betrayed principles for the sake of money”: Russia resumed in PACE, Ukraine leaves in protest

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution limiting the sanctions mechanism of the assembly. This opens up the possibility for the Russian delegation to return to PACE. The delegation is already in Strasbourg, media reported.

Фото: Depositphotos

The resolution was adopted after discussing the report of PACE member Petra de Sutter, 118 delegates voted for it, 62 were against, 10 abstained, writes Air force.

On May 17, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe adopted a statement according to which states should have “equal participation in PACE.” At the same time, the ministers announced that all delegations could take part in the June meeting of the assembly, at which the election of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe would be held.

The ministers noted that paying contributions to the PACE budget is one of the main obligations of member states. Russia does not pay contributions. She lost her powers in PACE in April 2014 due to the annexation of Crimea and the situation in Ukraine.

The resolution adopted at the Assembly’s meeting now amends the PACE regulations and excludes the possibility of depriving any delegation of the right to vote, as proposed by the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers.

“The rights of members to vote, speak and be represented in the assembly and its bodies are not suspended or revoked in the context of a challenge or revision of powers,” Interfax quotes the amendment.

On Tuesday, June 25, the Russian delegation will be able to take part in the work of the PACE.

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The Russian delegation has already arrived in Strasbourg to participate in the PACE session. TASS reports this with reference to a source in the delegation. Later, State Duma Deputy Speaker Pyotr Tolstoy, who headed the delegation, said: “We are submitting an application to confirm our powers.”

Tolstoy told the Rossiya 24 TV channel that the final decision on whether the Russian delegation will remain to work in PACE will be made on June 26.

“This is a formal procedure, but we will monitor how the work in the commission develops and what the decision will be. Depending on what it will be, we will make a decision whether to remain further than the Russian delegation in PACE or not,” he explained.

Previously, Moscow warned that if the resolution is accompanied by amendments that it considers an infringement of its rights, then Russia will not return to PACE - and therefore will not pay into the budget of the Council of Europe. State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said that if the Russian delegation “is deprived of any powers, we reserve the right to leave PACE.”

Viewed until night

The PACE session began in a tense situation. Members of the Ukrainian delegation wanted to change the agenda.

The text of the resolution was amended by 200. They were offered by Ukraine, Georgia and Britain. Consideration of the resolution took more than eight hours and eventually lasted until the night.

After reviewing about a third of them, only one technical amendment was approved, after which the deputies left for a break.

Kommersant quotes the words of Lord Foulkes, PACE General Rapporteur on media freedom and safety of journalists: “I came here without a final decision in my head. What to do? Vote up or down? Will they leave Crimea? Will the sailors be released? Of course, I would vote “yes” if it happened like this...”, writes Air force.

British Conservative MP Roger Gale said that “Sir Winston (Churchill) would be horrified” if he saw what was happening in the assembly and would try to dissuade his colleagues from introducing amendments for the sake of the participation of a single country and its budgetary contributions.

“In exchange for 70 million pieces of silver, the Russian Federation demands the return of the powers of its delegation and change the regulations. Should we give in to this cruel blackmail? If so, then it’s a shame!” - Kommersant quotes him.

“If Russia returns to the walls of the assembly, this will allow it to influence the Russian authorities, otherwise the Council of Europe will lose any instruments of influence on the Russian authorities, problems within Russia still cannot be solved from the outside,” retorted German MP Martin Hebner.

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Ukrainian delegation left the meeting room

The delegation of Ukraine left the meeting room of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in protest against the organization’s decision to restore the powers of the Russian delegation, they write NEWS.

“For the period of this session, we decided that the Ukrainian delegation will take part in the discussion only of those agenda items that relate to the imposition of sanctions on the Russian Federation,” parliamentarian Alexey Goncharenko said live on the Pryamoy TV channel.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky also expressed his disappointment with the PACE decision. He noted that he personally tried to convince the President of France and the Chancellor of Germany that the return of the Russian delegation to PACE is possible only after Russia fulfills the fundamental demands of the assembly, Interfax reports.

“It’s a pity that our European partners didn’t hear us and acted differently,” Zelensky said.

Photo: Facebook screenshot

Ukraine recalled the ambassador from the Council of Europe

The head of the Ukrainian delegation, Vladimir Aryev, reproached the delegates for teasing the authors of the amendments, Interfax reports. After that, PACE President Lilian Mori Pasquier asked delegates to take note of this claim.

In addition, Ariev wrote on Facebook that “if the Russians are reinstated without any conditions, Ukraine has nothing to do in PACE.” After the vote, the head of the Ukrainian delegation wrote: “PACE, in a zombie state, opened the door to the aggressor at one in the morning.” "A shame!" - he added.

Photo: Facebook screenshot

“We don’t see ourselves in the same room with the Russians. We will simply suspend Ukraine’s participation in the summer session,” the acting deputy told Interfax. Head of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on European Integration Maria Ionova. “And in general, I don’t know if it will be possible to return there, to be honest.”

A few hours later it became known that Kiev was recalling its ambassador from the Council of Europe for consultations because of the restoration of the rights of Moscow in the Parliamentary Assembly of the organization (PACE). This was stated by Foreign Minister of Ukraine Pavel Klimkin in his Facebook, quoting Lenta.ru report.

“The Council has lost our trust, and it will be extremely difficult to restore it. From a leader in the fight to protect human rights, he has become a simple manager, and a mediocre one, ”he stressed. in its publication.

Separately, the minister reproached France as the country presiding over the council.

“Being a founding country of the Normandy format and spreading the red carpet in front of the Russian deputies without Russia fulfilling any of the conditions put forward is forgive me for my French, full mauvais ton,” Klimkin believes.

At the same time, the Foreign Minister of Ukraine insists that his country's participation in PACE will be suspended only temporarily, since Kiev cannot give the Council of Europe “to the mercy of Russia and its friends.” He is confident that the Ukrainian authorities are not to blame for what happened, because the ground for a decision on Moscow has been prepared in the organization for a long time.

“It's not about the distribution of responsibility, which, by the way, I also do not take off from myself. It’s not all about [the former president of Ukraine, Petro] Poroshenko, [the current head of state, Vladimir] Zelensky, or someone else. This is our common problem, ”the Minister stressed.

As noted by the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Irina Gerashchenko, Ukraine, Georgia, Britain, the Baltic States and Poland opposed the return of Russia to PACE.

“We are a minority. We did not betray the principles of the Council of Europe, unlike those who sold the principles for the sake of money, Russia’s contribution,” Gerashchenko noted.

Photo: Facebook screenshot

Photo: Facebook screenshot

Photo: Facebook screenshot

How the voices were distributed

LIGA.net made a clear list of who and how voted on this international case.

Fully or mainly for voting Russians in the hall:

  • France (all 16 for);
  • Italy (12 in favor; 1 abstained);
  • Germany (11 for, 2 against);
  • Turkey (all 10 for);
  • Azerbaijan (all 6 for);
  • Spain (all 5 for);
  • Norway (all 5 for);
  • Serbia (all 5 for);
  • Austria (all 5 for);
  • Netherlands (5 for, 2 against);
  • Switzerland (4 for, 1 against);
  • Andorra (all 2 for);
  • Cyprus (all 2 for);
  • Iceland (all 2 for);
  • San Marino (all 2 for).

Partly for the return of the Russians were:

  • Armenia (3 for, 1 against);
  • Slovakia (3 for, 1 against);
  • Croatia (3 in favor, 1 against, 1 abstained);
  • Portugal (3 in favor, 1 abstained);
  • Czech Republic (2 for, 1 against, 1 abstained);
  • Finland (2 for, 2 against);
  • Moldova (2 for, 1 against);
  • Belgium (2 in favor, 2 abstained);
  • Romania (1 for, 1 against);
  • Denmark (1 for, 1 against);
  • Liechtenstein (1 for, 1 against).

All or mainly against representatives of Russia in the PACE hall stated:

  • Ukraine (all 10 against);
  • Poland (9 v., 1 for);
  • United Kingdom (8 v., 2 in favor, 3 abstained);
  • Georgia (all 5 against);
  • Lithuania (all 4 against);
  • Sweden (4 v., 1 for);
  • Latvia (all 3 against);
  • Estonia (all 3 against).

Pace without Russia

In January 2015, the PACE extended the sanctions against Russia. In protest, the delegation of Russia refused to participate in the sessions of the Assembly, which take place four times a year, and announced that a return to full-fledged work in PACE is possible only after the restoration of all powers, as well as by amending the regulations that do not allow further infringement of the rights national delegations.

In 2017, Moscow, due to this situation, suspended the payment of a contribution to the budget of the Council of Europe.

The contribution is about 30 million euros (34 million dollars). In the Russian budget for 2019, no funds were pledged for this contribution.

The last tranche of 10 million euros was received from Russia in February 2017.

In June, the 2019 of the year expire those same two years of non-payment, after which the organization may raise the issue of Russia's membership. Thorbjorn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, has repeatedly referred to this clause of the statute, but he did not directly talk about preparations for expulsion.

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By the decision of the PACE, which was adopted in January 2015, the Russian delegation is deprived of the right to vote.

In addition, Russians cannot be rapporteurs at PACE, participate in election observation in other countries, or represent the assembly in international organizations. In addition, the Russians are forbidden to occupy leadership positions in the PACE.

The Russian side demanded the reinstatement of its representatives in the rights and exclude from the PACE regulations the possibility of restricting the powers of national delegations. Moscow agreed to resume payment of contributions only after the restriction was removed from the work of her delegation.

In case of expulsion from the Council of Europe, Russia would automatically cease to be a member of not only the Parliamentary Assembly, but also such organizations as the European Court of Human Rights and the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission).

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