Russia is not going to restore payments to PACE
Russia is not going to resume its payments to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), since its delegation there continues to have its rights violated. This is stated in today's official statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
“A year has passed. The powers of our parliamentarians have not been restored. Accordingly, there are no grounds for resuming payments. The Parliamentary Assembly has not yet responded properly to our justified criticism. The question arises: will PACE, on its own, be able to solve the problem of equality of rights and responsibilities of all member countries of the Council of Europe?” the statement says.
The Russian Foreign Ministry questioned the legitimacy of half of the judges of the European Court of Human Rights and the Commissioner for Human Rights, who were elected without the participation of Russian parliamentarians.
In 2014-2015, trying to “punish” the delegation of the Russian parliament for the free choice of Crimeans in favor of joining Russia, the Assembly limited the rights of Russian parliamentarians and made it impossible for them to participate in the work of PACE.
In the summer of 2017, the Russian Federation decided to suspend the payment of contributions to the Council of Europe “until the full powers of the delegation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation in PACE are unconditionally restored.”
“We confirm once again that after the full restoration of the rights of the delegation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation in PACE, Russia will fulfill all financial obligations for the period from the moment of the forced decision to suspend payments,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
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