Pushkov: Russia stops its participation in PACE by the end of this year

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Wednesday, 28 in January, decided to extend the sanctions against the delegation of the Russian Federation and to deprive it until April 2015 of the right to vote and participate in the governing bodies of the Assembly. Reports about it TASS.

The corresponding amendment was adopted to the resolution on the powers of the Russian delegation on the report of Stefan Shennah (Austria) 148 with “for” votes with 64 “against”. “The Assembly decides to suspend the right of the Russian delegation to vote and be represented in the Bureau, the Presidential and the Standing Committees of the Assembly,” reads the amendment to the resolution.

In this regard, the head of the Russian delegation to PACE, the head of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, Alexei Pushkov, said: “We are not going to beg for authority, we are not going to beg for authority. We believe that if the majority in the Parliamentary Assembly decided to suspend the authorities, then we, in response, as we warned, suspend our activities in PACE until the end of 2015 of the year. ”

In turn, Leonid Slutsky, member of the Russian delegation, head of the Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots, commented on Lenta.ru: “This is not an easy decision for us, but I can say that Russia, as a great power, cannot tolerate violation of its principles, its activities aimed at preserving the lives of people. "

Pushkov also noted that at the end of the year a decision will be made on Russia's membership in the Council of Europe. “Until the end of 2015, we remain members of the Council of Europe, contributions have already been paid. We remain members of the Council of Europe at the level of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, that is, cooperation at the level of governments will continue, ”Pushkov told reporters.

In his opinion, due to today's PACE decision, the role of other organizations will increase, "which include the Russian Federation and where there is no institution of sanctions." “We intend to focus on the OSCE PA,” he said.

Pushkov also added that Russia withdraws its proposal on a possible visit by the PACE delegation to the Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko in the Moscow SIZO.

Russia was deprived of voting rights in PACE and expelled from all governing bodies in April 2014 after the annexation of Crimea to Russia. In response, Russian deputies defiantly left Strasbourg and skipped the summer and autumn sessions, writes Lenta.ru.