18:45 28.11.2017

Russian delegation's return to PACE would discredit logic of Council of Europe - Klimkin

2 min read
Russian delegation's return to PACE would discredit logic of Council of Europe - Klimkin

Attempts to return the Russian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will lead to the discrediting of the Council of Europe as a whole, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin has said.

"I think that these attempts can discredit the very logic of the Council of Europe, because this platform is based on values… This return [of the Russian delegation] cannot happen in any way, but if someone promotes this, I believe that he or she will promote the logic that the Council of Europe will not act as a democratic foundation of our joint European existence," he told journalists in Kyiv on Tuesday.

According to him, it will be very difficult to convince someone that the decisions of the Council of Europe are authoritative after it discredits itself with the return of the Russian delegation.

As reported, the PACE approved by a majority of votes a decision that aims to lift political sanctions from the Russian delegation.

The text of the decision includes the provision that the PACE and the Committee of Ministers (the Council of Europe's executive body) should harmonize the rules of participation and representation of member states in both statutory bodies.

This decision should ban the PACE from extending the restrictions imposed on Russia without the consent of the member states. In fact, this calls into question the approval in the PACE of any sanctions against Russia. Given that sanctions should be renewed annually, restrictions can be lifted already in January.

This provision was supported by the overwhelming majority of PACE deputies, whereas the amendments proposed by Ukraine failed, with the votes divided in the proportion of 60 to 30.

 

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