The PACE hopes that the upcoming autumn session will be held in a normal mode, but explained that everything will depend on the epidemiological situation.
Earlier, the Deputy Speaker of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, the head of the Russian delegation to PACE, Pyotr Tolstoy, said that the autumn session of the Assembly is planned for October 12-16, and expressed the hope that the organization will be able to start working in the usual format.
“At the moment we are still planning a real session in Strasbourg, but, of course, it will depend on the situation with the virus”, – the agency’s interlocutor in the Assembly said.
Earlier, PACE canceled the spring session due to the pandemic. Also, including because of the “constantly changing health situation associated with COVID-19, and the resulting travel restrictions for members”, PACE did not refuse to observe the upcoming August 9 presidential elections in Belarus.
On March 11, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the new coronavirus infection COVID-19 a pandemic. According to the latest WHO data, more than 16.5 million cases of infection have already been identified in the world, over 656 thousand people have died.