MOSCOW, December 25. Presented to the parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) draft resolution condemning Russia for a number of positions, speaks about the consolidation of anti-Russian forces in the Assembly on the eve of the January session. About it on Friday was declared to journalists by the head of the Russian delegation to PACE, Chairman of the Duma Committee on international Affairs Alexei Pushkov.
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“In a situation when Russia has not yet decided on whether or not to participate in PACE session in January, anti-Russian forces in the organization made a proposal to adopt a resolution aimed against Russia,” said Pushkov. The title of the resolution – “Gross violations of human rights in Russia: new challenges”, he said. The author of the project was the member of the Ukrainian delegation, Irina Gerashchenko, known for his anti-Russian views. Under the proposal has been signed by 34 PACE delegates from Germany, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Latvia, Romania, Spain and other countries.
The text offers “to condemn Russia for a number of positions, and it is mostly about Russophobic fantasies of the authors of this text”, said Pushkov. In particular, “about violence and discrimination in the occupied Crimea”, “the torture of women in the occupied Donbass” and even “state of the population” in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
“The text of this initiative, signed by some leaders of the political factions in PACE, shows that on the eve of January session of the anti-Russian part of the Assembly is committed to consolidate its position and use the session for another assault on Russia,” – said the head of the Russian delegation.
According to Pushkov, in a time when Europe and the world in General, there is a direct threat from international terrorism, “confirmed terrorist attacks in different countries of the world, instead of joining efforts with Russia in the PACE anti-Russian wing insists on continuing political confrontation with her.” “This indicates that if the political psychology of the members of the Assembly and are certain changes taking place, reflecting the need for cooperation with Russia, while today they are still far from being able to efficiently change the mood in this organization”, he concluded.
The Russian delegation in PACE in April 2014 was deprived of office because of Russia’s position on Ukraine and Crimea. In 2015, the parliamentary Assembly has twice adopted a decision on the possible restoration of the Russian delegation’s rights, but restrictions remain: Russia deprived of voting rights and participation in decision-making bodies of the PACE. In connection with these sanctions, the Russian delegation suspended its participation in the activities of the PACE until the end of the year.
24 December state Duma speaker Sergei Naryshkin said that the Russian delegation will be determined with the decision of whether to go to PACE January session, the second half of January. The head of the lower house of Parliament did not exclude the option that the delegation can come to the session and to Orient their actions on the spot. Naryshkin also underlined the unacceptability of any limitation of authority of Russia in PACE.
Earlier, the head of the Duma Committee on international Affairs Alexei Pushkov said that the issue of Russia’s participation in PACE session in January correlated with the position on payment of fee of the Russian Federation to the Council of Europe, decisions on both issues will be accepted in January. “We are now thinking about how we behave in relation to PACE, who will decide in January, but, of course, to session,” he said.
