[ad_1]
In Strasbourg, France, the Winter Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), still in the absence of the Russian delegation, continues [19659002] However, despite the fact that Russian representatives do not participate directly in the meeting, the "ghost" of Moscow is walking in the corridors of the Assembly
Russia refused to send a delegation in PACE and to make contributions to the budget this year. If, in June 2019, payments would not be reinstated, the Russian Federation should be excluded from the organization after 23 years of membership,
– said the day before the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Turbjorn Jagland
. Recall the PACE ruined the Russian delegation after the annexation Crimea Moscow also lost the opportunity to work in the governing bodies of the assembly. In June 2017, Russia announced that it would cease making contributions to the Council of Europe budget until the full restoration of PACE delegation powers. Note that Moscow 's annual contribution is about 33 million euros accounting for nearly 10% of the organization' s budget.
Read also: "It will be a loss for all": the Council of Europe does not want to leave Russia, even with the annexation Crimea
Under the veil of the year last, Russia put the organization in one condition: do not return to PACE as long as the regulation will not include any amendment prohibiting the deprivation of the national right to vote during the sessions. After long and fierce debates, the rules have not been changed.
But the rules of formation of the committees in the largest organization of the European space literally changed the day. This then led to the deprivation of the seat of Ukraine in the Regulatory Committee and the Commission on the Election of Judges . From now on, these committees can not be more than two representatives from each of the Member States (there are 47). At that time, the committees mentioned were no longer limited, their composition had been formed on the proposal of political groups.
Four ordinary Ukrainians – Volodymyr Aryev, Vladislav Holub, Yulia Lyovochkina and Serhiy Kiral – were introduced to the regular committee. The Regulatory Committee is of particular importance to the official government of Kiev, since it is notably responsible for the drafting of amendments concerning the probable lifting of sanctions against the Federation of Russia and the opening of the way for the return of the Russians to the Assembly.
Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the Council Europe, Dmitry Kuleba, commented on the situation in these terms:
This is an artificially created problem. I see no other explanation for this, other than an attempt to weaken one way or another the pro-Ukrainian positions within the PACE in response to our stubbornness in the Russian question. There is no other explanation for what happened. If you name things with your own name, it's a little revenge.
The postprovidence of Ukraine at the Council of Europe Dmitry Kuleba / Photo true-news
According to Kulebi, the general approach from Russia in PACE for now: Russia is bad and terrible, but you have to learn to live with it. In principle, if we analyze the rhetoric of PACE leaders, we can conclude that Dmitry Kulebi's statement really makes sense. Judge in person.
Lately, speaking in the PACE tribune, the president of this organization, Lillian Mori-Pascie, called for a solution in relations with Russia:
It is of a situation in which only one Member State, the Russian Federation, is not represented in the Assembly, but take part in other instances of the organization (Council of Europe – ed.) Is counterproductive and strikes our work as a defender of the law and democracy. The future of our organization is on the map and we are therefore obliged to find a solution to this problem and to pursue essentially a political dialogue.
Glory to the PACE Lilian Mori-Pascque / Photo uazmi 19659005] Read also: A PACE resolution recognizes the Ukrainian sailors captured by the prisoners of Russian war
The representative of the Ukrainian delegation, People's Deputy of the Ukrainian People's Party, Alexei Goncharenko, is convinced that the refusal to pay contributions to Moscow is trying to defuse PACE financially in order to financially defuse his delegation . tion.
During the session, I remind the Council of Europe Secretary General Jagland issue of financial blackmail Russia. He talks about the financial difficulties of the organization and receives a very high salary: $ 100,000. The pension fund always generates revenue of the same amount. I offered him to give up this money and give it to the PACE, which is obliged to reduce the number of employees and save on everything. Jagland refused to answer,
– Alexei Goncharenko told reporters at the doors of PACE
Although Russian delegates publicly take a stand for demonstrative indifference towards the work of PACE, on the sidelines of the Russian Federation . Why The fact is that an important event of the PACE will take place in June: the election of a new Secretary General. The powers of Jagland are over, there are now several candidates and they are completely different.
A candidate from Lithuania can be referred to an informal group of "friends of Ukraine", there are candidates from Greece who are on the contrary very close to Russia. The neutral Belgian representative, however, believes that Russia's presence in PACE will probably have an impact on it, and not the other way around. And there is also a more or less neutral representative of Croatia.
According to the experts, the Russian delegation is now extremely interested in the return and the vote of the election of the Secretary-General. And here is the question of how to return home, while keeping their faces, since their voting rights are still not recognized and the sanctions work.
Read also: The exit of Russia from the Council of Europe could have negative consequences for Russian citizens, – Gayko Maas [19659004] Regarding the risks of exclusion of PACE Russia because of the refusal to pay contributions, it is unlikely that this scenario is realistic, because to "clean up" the Russian Federation, a consensus decision is required – when all countries vote "for". It is obvious that at least Armenia and Serbia, which still display a clear pro-Russian stance, will probably not support this position and if at least one country opposes it, the decision will not will not be adopted.
Russia does not make any contribution to the Council's budget from 2017. Europe The last day of June, exactly two years after the start of the Russian arrears, and according to the Council of Europe charter two years later the cessation of payments, the state turns into a non-paying impard against which may be subject to further sanctions . But the "chip" is that in June, as we said earlier, PACE MEPs will elect a new Secretary General who can radically change the situation in the Council of Europe. and put pressure on the Russians. At present, there is persistent impression that Moscow distracts the issue and wants to be excluded from PACE or, ideally, seek to preserve the status quo. The calculation is cunning and at the same time very profitable: it is not necessary to pay the contributions, its "agents" within the PACE, therefore, in the presence of levers to undermine the Council from the interior of Europe .
And the icing on the cake – it's publicly possible around and without shouting around the world how much PACE has violated the fundamentals of democracy and has "unreasonably" excluded Russia from his stones.
Read also: PACE has reduced the number of seats in the Committee on the lifting of sanctions against the Russian Federation [19659029]
[ad_2]
Source link
