Russia will not send documents for participation in the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. This was told by the head of the international committee of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev.

“At tomorrow’s planar meeting, the Federation Council will consider the statement of the Federation Council“ On the situation around Russian participation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, ”RIA Novosti quoted Kosachev as saying.

Speaking about the documents for participation in the PACE winter session, Kosachev said: “We do not request authority”.

On the eve of the relevant committee of the State Duma recommended not to send a delegation to the PACE. This was announced by the head of the committee Leonid Slutsky.

“We propose to make a decision not to send the delegation of the Russian Federation to participate in the work of PACE in 2019,” he said during a committee meeting on Tuesday.

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According to the parliamentarian, “there is no reason to return to PACE.” He added that the assembly had not adopted the regulatory amendments on the exclusion of sanctions norms, which would deprive national delegations of authority. “And this was the main criterion, a kind of turning point for changing our position,” RIA Novosti cites the point of view of Slutsk.

According to the Deputy Speaker of the State Duma, Peter Tolstoy, Russia's non-participation in the work of PACE has far-reaching consequences.

“The Council of Europe is still an organization that aims to unite the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. The non-participation of Russia in the Council of Europe makes this organization flawed in relation to the EU, which includes the majority of Council of Europe members. And the non-participation of Russia in the Parliamentary Assembly, according to our colleagues from the PACE, releases a vacuum for Russophobia, which in recent years has been implemented in current work in the form of various statements and resolutions, ”RIA Novosti quotes Tolstoy.

In turn, the Vice-Speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin said earlier on January 15 that Russia insists that all members of the Council of Europe have equal rights.

“No one should encroach on equal rights, no national delegation should be discriminated, it is unacceptable to deprive the national delegation of the right to vote, the right of expression if it takes a different position,” RIA Novosti cites his words.

“No good leads us all”

In April 2014, Russia was deprived of a number of basic powers in PACE due to events in Ukraine and reunification with the Crimea. Later, in 2016, the Russian delegation refused to continue working in PACE until the restoration of parity with representatives of other states.

Until June 2017, Moscow continued to fulfill its financial obligations to PACE. From that moment on, Russia stopped paying membership fees due to the restriction of the delegation’s rights. At the same time, Moscow provided large contributions and was among the leaders in this indicator, in 2017 paying € 32.8 million. France provided the most support during this period - € 37.5 million.

A year later, in July 2018, the Foreign Ministry announced that there were still no grounds for resuming payment of contributions.

“In the summer of 2017, it was decided to suspend the payment of contributions to the Council of Europe“ until the unconditional restoration of the full powers of the delegation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation to PACE ”. A year has passed. The powers of parliamentarians are not restored. Accordingly, there are no grounds for renewal, ”the ministry’s statement said.

In October 2018, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Thorbjørn Jagland, said that Russia's participation in the CE bodies could be suspended if Moscow did not resume paying membership fees until mid-2019.

In December 2018, the speaker of the Federation Council, Valentina Matvienko, stated that Russia would take a decision on membership in the CoE in June 2019.

“If the charter is not fundamentally changed until June of next year and a decision is made that allows all states to work on equal terms, this time“ H ”is a red line beyond which Russia's continued presence in the Council of Europe ... becomes meaningless,” he quotes her RIA News.

There can be no intermediate phase in relations between Russia and the Council of Europe, says Alexey Martynov, director of the International Institute of the Newest States.

“Either Russia is a member of the PACE and accordingly, as a full-fledged member of this parliamentary platform of the Council of Europe, participates in all events, meetings, voices its position in various discussions, makes corresponding membership dues. Either not: Russia is not a member of the organization and does not do the above and does not pay contributions, ”said the expert in an interview with RT.

The political scientist does not exclude that Russia may leave the Council of Europe against the background of a number of abusive incidents in the past.

“Russia will obviously come out of these dubious organizations that do not lead us all to anything good. Another thing is that with these organizations then there will be? But this is another story and their personal problem, ”the expert concluded.