The relations between Moscow and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) have passed the crisis stage, and now Russia plays a full role in the Assembly, said PACE Chairman Lilian Mori Pasquier at a meeting with the Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko.
Opening the meeting, Pasquier thanked the speaker of the Council of Federation for the reception and addressed Matvienko by name, calling him “dear Valentina”.
“Madam Chairman, dear Valentina, if I can afford to address you like that”, – said Pasquier.
She drew attention to the fact that the last meeting with Matvienko took place this spring, when the relations between Russia and PACE were at the peak of the crisis. At the June session, the Russian delegation managed to return to the Assembly Hall after almost four years of absence.
“Thanks to our efforts, we were able to turn this page around and the Russian delegation was able to take its rightful place,” said the head of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).
In her opinion, Russia’s return to the Assembly took place only due to cooperation and dialogue.
Easter reminded that Russia joined the Council of Europe in 1996. “Russia’s legal practice has greatly enriched the experience of the ECtHR”, – she added.
The Head of the PACE also noted the participation of Russian parliamentarians in the work of the Assembly.
The Russian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) was deprived of the right to vote in April 2014 due to the events in Ukraine and the reunification of Crimea with Russia. In 2015, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) twice considered the issue of restoring the powers of the Russian delegation, but then the sanctions were only toughened. In response, the Russian delegation refused to work under such conditions, and in 2016-2018 it did not send an application for confirmation of its powers because of continuing anti-Russian sentiment in Strasbourg. The Russian side also proposed to include provisions in the Assembly’s rules of procedure that no one has the right to deprive any national delegations of their powers. On June 26 this year, the PACE fully restored the powers of the Russian delegation, which was able to participate in the June session.