Resolution on Lifting Sanctions against Russia in CoE Withdrawn

The draft resolution on lifting sanctions against Russia in the regulations of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has been withdrawn by the author Petra De Sutter from Belgium.

The Russian delegation was deprived the right to vote in PACE in 2014 because of the annexation of Crimea. Later, Russia refused to participate in the organization’s work and refused to pay the fee.

Acute discussions were held during the autumn session of PACE over the proposed changes on strengthening the decision-making process of the Parliamentary Assembly concerning credentials and voting. Some deputies thought the changes in fact aimed at lifting the sanctions on the Russian delegation.

First Deputy Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, Tamar Chugoshvili, said in a speech delivered before the autumn session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe that the draft resolution’s author had tried to present a balanced document.

“Russia shall fulfill the commitments assumed towards both Ukraine and Georgia, and if it does, only then can we speak about the annulment of the sanctions, but not annulment of the sanction mechanism,” she stressed.

“We should not allow the precedent that a country which rejects the commitments of the Council of Europe, is specially treated,” Chugoshvili added.

By Thea Morrison