Germany’s Voice of Reason: Excluding Russia from PACE does little good

Did anyone seriously think that depriving one country of the opportunity to participate in the work of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe would be a panacea for all problems?

This statement was made by the head of the German delegation to the PACE, Andreas Nick, in the commentary to the Deutsche Welle publication.

He hastily assured that Berlin’s position regarding the Crimea, Donbass and the Sea of ​​Azov will not change, but PACE should be concerned with ensuring the protection of human rights, and not blocking the work of one of the delegations.

“The EU sanctions policy has remained the same, however, it’s really possible for someone to think that excluding one country from the Council of Europe makes it possible to solve all these issues overnight. As for me, the goal of the Council of Europe is to direct work towards the protection of human rights, ensuring the principles of the rule of law, ”he said.

Andreas Nick added that it was time to take decisive action, rather than focusing on symbols. He also stressed that no one has yet been able to explain how the exclusion of the Russian delegation from the PACE will contribute to peace in the Donbas. “I believe that this will only aggravate the situation,” he stated.