on the Situation with Regard to Russia's Participation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Unofficial translation
STATEMENT
OF THE FEDERATION COUNCIL
OF THE FEDERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
on the Situation with Regard to Russia's Participation
in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Members of the Council of the Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation state that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), by adopting a number of decisions to limit the credentials of the Russian delegation in PACE at its previous sessions, deviated from the basic principles of democracy and violated one of the fundamental principles of international law – the principle of sovereign equality of States.
PACE's discriminatory decisions pushed through by an anti-Russia group of politicians, which have effectively brought to a halt the parliamentary interaction between Russia and the Council of Europe, as well as the fact that, in recent years, Russia has not been involved in deciding on the composition of the European Court of Human Rights and electing the key officials of the Council of Europe, undermine the credibility of the Council of Europe itself.
Despite attempts to make a number of adjustments to the Rules of Procedure of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, nothing has essentially changed as there is still room to restrict the rights of national parliamentary delegations representing the interests of their voters. Therefore, the likelihood is that discrimination against the Russian delegation on political grounds will continue.
In this situation, members of the Council of the Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation see no reason to submit a request for confirmation of the Russian delegation's credentials in PACE for the 2019 Ordinary Session.
At the same time, the Council of the Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation reiterates its willingness to continue a constructive dialogue with national parliaments represented in PACE as well as with bodies and institutions of the Council of Europe, including the Parliamentary Assembly, in order to reinstate the Council of Europe as an international organization that was originally founded on the principles of full equality of its members and respect for common European democratic values.
Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation