PACE President regrets Russian parliament’s decision not to participate in the work of the Assembly in 2016
Russian delegation will not take part in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) winter session. PACE President Anne Brasseu expressed her regret over Russia's decision not to participate in the winter session which opens in Strasbourg on January 25. “Yesterday I received a letter from the Chair of the Council Federation and the Chair of the State Duma informing me of the decision of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation not to submit the credentials of the Russian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in time for the opening of the 2016 Assembly session on 25 January,” said Anne Brasseur. “I regret this decision. The consequence is that, in accordance with Article 25 of the Statute of the Council of Europe and Rule 6 of the Rules of Procedure of the Parliamentary Assembly, there will be no delegation of the Russian Federation taking part in the work of the Assembly throughout 2016, or at least until the next parliamentary elections take place in Russia,” she said. A letter, signed by the speakers of the Russian parliament houses about the fact that the credentials of the Russian delegation [to PACE] for 2016 will be requested later, is being forwarded to PACE President Anne Brasseur. We are missing the January session," Leonid Slutsky, the chairman of the Russian parliament low chamber's committee on Eurasian integration said earlier this week. Slutsky added that Russia would return to Strasbourg only on equal terms and only if the return of the delegation's powers is guaranteed. According to the lawmaker, despite the fact that the situation remains complicated, Moscow is likely to return to participating in PACE sessions later this year. In 2014, PACE adopted a resolution, under which the Russian delegation was deprived of the right to vote and the right to be represented in the governing structures of PACE for a year, the resolution has been later prolonged for another year. The measures were introduced in response to Moscow's alleged involvement in the Ukraine crisis.
