Russian delegation resumes seats in PACE, despite Ukrainian efforts to keep it out of assembly
Despite protests from Ukraine, the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe has approved a resolution to allow the
Russian delegation to again participate in the assembly, Ukrainian PACE
delegate and Servant of the People MP Mariya Mezentseva wrote on her Telegram
channel on Jan. 26.
PACE members voted 97-41 to confirm the Russian delegation’s rights to be seated in the assembly, though Russia itself was excluded from voting, according to the assembly’s voting procedure.
Ukraine did manage to push through a few amendments to the resolution, however,
including a demand for Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine’s border and de-escalate.
The day before, PACE voted against appointing the Russian representative Pyotr Tolstoy the vice-president of the assembly.
“The good thing is we had more votes this year than a year ago,” wrote another member of the Ukrainian PACE delegation, European Solidarity MP Oleksiy Honcharenko, on his Telegram channel.
“It means that more and more people are becoming aware of the fact that Russia is an aggressor and does not belong in PACE.”
Russia was initially expelled from PACE after invading Ukraine in 2014.
However, Russia succeeded in returning to PACE without sanction in 2019, having put pressure on the assembly members. Ukraine has been attempting to re-institute Russia’s expulsion ever since.
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Google News
