Photo: Russian Embassy in Belgium / facebook.com
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has called the resolution on the return of Russian parliamentarians to PACE a positive step, RIA Novosti reports. In his opinion, it is very important that the delegates who supported the document made it clear that the rights that are being returned to Russia cannot be challenged.
The Foreign Minister clarified that Moscow would make contributions to the Council of Europe only when all the formalities were settled. He recalled that Russia had repeatedly declared its readiness to pay after the restoration of its rights. The Russian authorities withheld fees "because of an unacceptable, discriminatory attitude," Sergey Lavrov explained.
The Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov called the return of the Russian delegation to PACE the victory of common sense. He has no doubt that the Parliamentary Assembly cannot function correctly without Russia.
Russkiy Mir reported that the draft resolution to allow Russia participating in the summer session was discussed until night. Ukraine and Britain proposed over two hundred amendments. As a result, Russia received an invitation to the summer session, and the PACE rules were amended to prohibit depriving its participants of the right to vote.
The regulation of PACE maintains a norm allowing 30 representatives of the assembly from no less than 5 countries to challenge the authority of a particular national delegation when they are confirmed. On Tuesday morning, the deputies challenged the powers of the Russian delegation. Now, according to the rules of the organization, it is necessary to prepare a report on the limitation of powers within 24 hours. Then the document will be put to vote. If the report is accepted, the powers of the Russian delegation will be limited. If the report is rejected, the representatives of Russia will retain their rights in full.
Russkiy Mir
