Six countries challenged the powers of the delegation, referring to the fact that the last elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation were not free.The powers of the Russian delegation were confirmed in PACE / REUTERS

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe voted to confirm the powers of the delegation of the Russian Federation.

This was reported in the permanent delegation of the Verkhovna Rada in PACE.

“PACE voted to confirm the authority of the delegation of the Russian Federation: 97 in favor, 41 against, 4 abstained,” the Ukrainian delegation said.

Members of the Ukrainian delegation note that during the consideration of the issue, Russia was engaged in blackmail, threatening to withdraw from the Assembly and stop contributions.

“All the amendments that were submitted by the Ukrainian delegation or co-authored with colleagues from the Baltic + on limiting the rights of Russians in PACE were rejected by the hall,” the message says.

At the same time, PACE included in the text of the resolution on this issue calls for the withdrawal of Russian troops from the borders of Ukraine, negative assessments of the actions of the Russian Federation that threaten security in Europe, and the like. 

The Ukrainian delegation recalled that the head of the Russian delegation and Vice Speaker of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Pyotr Tolstoy failed to become PACE Vice President. This is seen as a signal for Russia.

“Russia was again given a chance for dialogue, but once again there will be no such dialogue, and we hope that the decision against Mr. Tolstoy is already a certain progress towards changing the spirit of the” dialogue “in the Assembly with the Russian Federation, where the situation with human rights and democracy is only getting worse from year to year,” the delegation noted.

Appeal against the powers of the Russian delegation in PACE

Lithuanian MP Emanuelis Zingeris said he wants to challenge the powers of the Russian delegation. According to him, the parliamentary elections in Russia, which took place in September 2021, “were not free and fair.” Therefore, according to the Lithuanian deputy, “the Russian delegation is not legitimate.”

A member of the Ukrainian delegation, a people’s deputy from the Servant of the People faction, Yevgenia Kravchuk, also appealed against the powers of the Russian delegation. She stated that in Russia, the election of deputies on the lists of political parties in the national elections to the State Duma includes votes from the illegally occupied and annexed territory of Crimea. 

In general, representatives of six countries – Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Georgia and Poland – challenged the powers of the Russian delegation.

On January 24, the PACE  began the procedure for challenging the powers of the delegation of deputies of the State Duma of the Russian Federation.

(C)UNIAN 2022