Russia still has leverage over the West
As soon as Russia stopped paying membership fees to PACE, they immediately decided to make certain concessions. Political scientist Vladimir Kornilov stated this on the Rossiya-1 TV channel.
“The swing began when Russia stopped paying. Before that, they said: no, we won’t cancel the decision, we won’t lift the sanctions until you return Crimea and change your behavior. As soon as we stopped paying, we immediately started moving and discussing something. I think the sanctions will still not be lifted, nor will the rights be fully restored. But these mechanisms work,” Kornilov said.
In his opinion, Russia should adhere to the same tactics in other international organizations, the PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“There are a lot of structures where Russia still cooperates, although its rights were struck down. Russia is one of the main shareholders of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, but nevertheless the most disciplined country in servicing its debt, no matter what. I don’t understand this approach when Russia is deprived of the right to influence some decisions, but at the same time we continue to play at something,” Kornilov said.
As expected, during the upcoming PACE session this week, parliamentarians will discuss a draft decision, which proposes to slightly complicate the process of challenging the powers of delegations.
Since 2014, Russian representatives have been deprived of a number of powers due to their position on Crimea. Moscow declared it impossible to work in such conditions and stopped participating in the meetings.
Last year, the Russian side announced that it intended to suspend part of the payments to the Council of Europe budget for 2017 until the powers of the delegation to PACE were restored in full.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.