Ukraine, as a member of the Council of Europe, is obliged to send a delegation to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, the Head of one of its political groups Tini Cox told RIA Novosti, commenting on the decision of Kiev not to go to the next session of the Assembly.
On Monday, the Ukrainian delegation issued a statement in which it officially refused to participate in the work of the session opening next week due to the return of Russia. At the same time, the Ukrainian side indicated that it would resume consultations with partners in the Assembly.
“All member states are required to participate in both statutory bodies of the Council of Europe, as provided for in the resolution “On the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly Role and Mission, Future Tasks” adopted by a three-fourths majority in April last year”, – Cox said.
“Therefore, the Russian Federation had to send a new delegation to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, the same applies to Ukraine. The Council of Europe is not a cafe where you choose everything you like”, – the agency’s interlocutor added.
The Kiev statement also said that the Ukrainian delegation called on colleagues from the Council of Europe to hold extensive consultations on the consequences of the unconditional return of the Russian Federation to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly and to develop effective mechanisms for the responsibility of “violating states of the European Council statutes and international law”.
Commenting on this part of the statement, Cox said that the development of a joint response mechanism that could be used in case of a gross violation of obligations done by a member state in accordance with the charter and the European Convention on Human Rights is under control.
“In the upcoming part of the session, this new mechanism will be discussed with the leaders of all national delegations. If Ukraine is absent, it misses a chance to participate in this discussion. Therefore, it would be wise not to stay away from the next part of the session”, – Cox concluded.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in June this year fully confirmed the credentials of the Russian delegation. The former Head of the Ukrainian delegation to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly, Vladimir Aryev, said that Ukraine is leaving the assembly session. Later it turned out that one representative of the delegation was left in the Assembly, and the “boycott” of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe’s work lasted a day and a half.